


The Rainmaker's Staff

by TanyaReed



Category: Relic Hunter
Genre: Fantasy, Gen, NaNoWriMo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-27
Packaged: 2017-11-14 13:24:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 52,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TanyaReed/pseuds/TanyaReed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was the first Relic Hunter story I wrote.  It was my nanowrimo project in...2005, I think.  Sydney and Nigel are transported into another world and into a very unique relic hunt.  It's mostly GEN, but there are hints of Syd/Nigel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Theri knocked on Rayzi's door. Though the hour was late, she knew that he would still be awake. The door was opened almost immediately by a young man with tousled blond hair and circles under his blue eyes. He was fully clothed and a heavy tome dangled from his left hand.

"Theri," he said in surprise. "What are you doing running around at this hour of the night?"

"I needed to see you. We have to figure out what to do."

Without asking for explanations, Rayzi moved aside to let her in.

"This has to end," she continued, "and we're running out of options."

Rayzi scowled, kicking the door closed behind them. Theri studied his face and felt guilty for the worry lines she had put there. He looked too young to have a kingdom depending on him. It almost slipped her mind that she was just as young.

Rayzi motioned her to a book-filled chair. With a sigh, Theri picked up the books and plopped them at her feet. Rayzi was mostly an instinctive mage; if he was going to his books, they were in as much trouble as she feared.

He sat across from her, on the bed, his blue eyes troubled as they looked into hers.

"I've been thinking..." she started slowly, not sure how to say it. "I know it may be just a legend, but do you think...?"

As usual, Rayzi seemed to immediately know what she was saying. "You're speaking of The Staff."

Theri nodded, looking down at her fingers. She believed, but she didn't know if he believed. There was nothing to be lost by trying, though, and everything to gain.

When she didn't answer him, he got up once more and began to pace. The air around him seemed to crackle with electricity.

"It might not exist. If it does, we might not find it. How do we find it? Who can we trust?"

"I don't know," Theri said, though he wasn't really asking her. "But the people are dying. We know the legends say that Karolyne spent her last days in Lesha. Maybe that's the place to start."

"But Lesha..."

"I know, but what choice do we have?" Theri felt her voice rise and fought to control it.

He stopped his pacing and once more ran his hand through his wild blond hair. "So, who will you send? Me?"

Theri shook her head. She needed him here. "I thought you could do a divination. We need the best adventurer alive, and we need someone we can trust. How are we supposed to know who that is without one?"

Rayzi smiled slightly. "That's a good idea, actually."

"We can't afford to have less than the best...and The Staff is so valuable..."

"I'll make sure honesty and honour are factors."

Now that he agreed, Theri found herself getting excited. Finally, they'd be doing something.

She watched as Rayzi went to the trunk by his bed, rummaging until he came out with a large wooden bowl. This, he filled almost to the top with water from the pitcher on his nightstand. Then, he took out a small knife. Theri winced as he nicked his index finger and let two drops of blood drip into the water.

He brought the bowl over to his small work table. Theri stood so she could go over and peer into the bowl. Not everyone could see a divination, but she had just enough mage sight to be able to.

Rayzi leaned over his bowl, staring into the water intently. Theri bent down almost as close, taking care not to block his concentration or his view.

After a moment, a picture started to form. It was of two people--a tall athletic woman and a smaller, very handsome young man. As they watched, the two in the bowl approached a large stone building. The woman turned to the man and said something. Theri wished she could hear what. She wondered if they were theives.

She shook her head in denial. She had asked Rayzi to specify honour. She continued to watch as the woman and man looked furtively around before the woman took out a hand held crossbow, sighted, and shot upwards. Theri was impressed as the woman started to climb a line that trailed down from her bolt.

The picture slowly started to fade. Theri watched it until it was gone before raising her eyes to Rayzi's.

"They look promising."

"Yes," he said, biting his lip pensively, "But we might have a problem."

XXX

Sydney Fox quietly snuck down the alley, her friend and assistant Nigel Bailey close behind her. She winced as Nigel tripped over something with a groan and a loud smacking noise. She stopped and listened, hoping the night around them would remain quiet.

Nigel made a face in the dim light and mouthed, "Sorry."

Sydney just gave him a stern look. When the night didn't erupt into sound, she turned back, noting that Nigel was trying to be more careful. At least she didn't hear any more loud crashes behind her.

As they approached Serge's house, she slowed again, waving a hand in Nigel's direction. He was being so cautious that she felt rather than heard him come up behind her.

She turned and whispered, "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I ever am," he whispered back.

Sydney rolled her eyes and looked around them, searching for prying eyes. Finding none, she reached into her pocket and took out her crossbow. She cocked it and aimed at the roof.

"I'm going to fall down and break my neck," Nigel told her quietly, but she ignored him.

As soon as her arrow sank in, she pulled on the small rope hanging from it. It felt solid. She gave it one last tug to be sure, and started to climb.

She had discovered that Serge kept his antiquities on the third floor, so Sydney climbed right up to the top. The window was latched, though she had taken care of the alarm that afternoon. Taking out her knife, she gripped the rope with her knees and started working at the latch.

"Sydney?" Nigel's voice came from below.

"I'm working on it," she hissed back.

"Hurry, please."

As he said this, Sydney heard a click. She grinned and swung one shutter outward. Wriggling sideways, she managed to pull herself in through the opening. Turning, she called down, "All right, come up."

Sydney looked around and found herself in a small bedroom. It was simple and impersonal. The colors were muted and the furniture, though of good quality, was plain. Through the open window, she heard Nigel grunting softly as he struggled up the rope. She absently tuned it out as she went to the closed door. Serge was supposed to be gone for the night, but she still put her ear against it intently.

"Syd, a little help."

Scowling, Sydney went back to the window where Nigel was hanging half in and half out. Nigel gave her a hesitant smile, despite the fact that he was dangling three stories above the ground. Unable to retain her scowl, she shook her head and smiled back, grabbing the back of his jacket and helping him through.

"You all right?"

"Sure."

She had to hand it to him. Nigel struggled through everything she threw at him. He didn't do it without complaint, but he never refused. She smiled at him again and clapped him on the shoulder.

Together, they walked out into a narrow hallway.

"If our information is correct, it's at the end of this hallway, on the left."

"Right." Nigel dug his flashlight out of his bag and shone it down the hallway. Sydney noticed that the hallway, like the bedroom, was very plain. It wasn't at all what you would expect from a flashy millionaire. She wondered if it was because he didn't want anyone to guess that he had something important hidden up there.

"Spartan," Nigel said, echoing her thoughts as he usually did.

The two of them hurried down the hallway to the room they had been told to search for the Dagger of Iniquity. The door was locked, so Sydney took out her lockpicks and searched for the one she needed. Nigel lit the keyhole for her.

The room beyond was a study, decorated as simply as the other rooms on that floor. Though the furniture was simple, it was obviously expensive. But there were no antiquities in the room.

"Huh. There must be a safe."

"Yes," Nigel agreed. "I don't see one, so hidden...I'll take this side, you take that."

Sydney nodded and began to feel her way around the wall. She knew the safe could be hidden anywhere--as simple as behind a picture or as complicated as a secret compartment.

"Any luck, Nigel?" she asked.

"Not yet."

She snuck a peek at him over her shoulder. In the glow from his flashlight, she could see his brow drawn down in concentration. It was one of his adorable looks, though she would never tell him that. Turning to the desk, Sydney started running her fingers over it.

"Here, Syd," Nigel said, making her abandon the desk and come up behind him. He showed her a place on the wall where the panelling varied slightly. "This might be it."

She reached over and slid her fingers over the panelling, recognizing a small bump as a possible trigger. Gently, she pressed it. A quiet creak resulted and Sydney saw a small part of the wall separate from the rest.

"Bingo."

She pulled gently on the door, revealing a small room lined with shelves. On the shelves were rare items, most of them legal, but...

"There," Nigel said from behind her. "That's the dagger."

The stolen dagger gleamed in the light from Nigel's flashlight. The gems in its hilt twinkled.

Without much time to admire it, Nigel hurried forward and scooped it up, putting it into his backpack. Sydney put the wall back as she found it, and they hurried towards the door. They were stopped short as the lights were suddenly turned on, and they found themselves confronted by a very large man holding a gun. Serge.

"Ah, Sydney, my pet," he said, "I knew you'd make a play for the dagger."

His dress was impeccable, and he spoke in a calmly cultured voice. The evil intent in his eyes, however, was unmistakeable.

Sydney glanced at Nigel, making sure he was behind her. She could see the surprise on his face, and it was almost comical.

"Serge," she said, deadpan, "you're home early."

"I couldn't let guests come to my home without greeting them. Now tell the boy to hand me the dagger."

"Nigel."

"Right."

Sydney saw Serge's eyes flick to Nigel. In that brief moment of inattention, she kicked hard, knocking the gun from Serge's hand. She followed the kick with a punch to the face. Serge stumbled, but didn't fall, so she hit him again.

When he went down, Sydney grabbed Nigel's hand and the two of them ran back the way they had come. Nigel was a lot faster going down than he had been coming up, and as soon as he reached the ground she slid down after him. They were off and back down the alley before Serge even had a chance to see which way they had gone.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, you managed to take it right from his house?" Karen asked, wide-eyed. "But how did he know you'd be there?"

"Well," Sydney said, "He knew I was interested in the dagger, and he knew who I was, so he must have guessed the rest."

She was sitting comfortably in her office, perched on Karen's desk and going through the mail she'd acquired while she and Nigel were away. Nigel had already started correcting essays they had received, which was a huge relief.

He looked up and said, "If he'd have been just a few more minutes, he would have missed us."

"So, where's the dagger now?" Karen seemed to be a lot more interested in their adventures than Claudia had ever been. Sydney wondered if it had anything to do with the crush she had on Nigel. It was cute, especially since Nigel seemed oblivious. Then again, the smartest people in the world could also be the dimmest sometimes.

"Safely in the Belgian museum where it belongs," Sydney told her with satisfaction, finishing the mail and getting up to go back to her office. "Want some help with those papers, Nigel?"

"Love some, but we've got a class in ten minutes."

"We do?" Sydney looked at her watch. As usual, Nigel was right. "Then we'd better get going. See you in an hour, Karen."

"Bye." The pretty secretary smiled widely and waved before burying herself in work once more.

"I don't know how we got on before her," Nigel commented as they walked down student filled hallways.

"Claudia wasn't that..." Sydney started, but couldn't finish because she suddenly felt woozy. "Nigel."

She heard his voice as if from far away. "Syd, are you all right?"

"I...I don't feel so good."

The room had started to swirl crazily, and she felt herslef swaying. Afraid she was going to pass out, she reached out...and felt a firm grip on her elbow.

"This way, Syd."

Nigel gently led her down the hallway, though she couldn't tell where they were going. She had to close her eyes so she wouldn't throw up. Nigel was a firm anchor to the world. Solid and dependable.

Suddenly, she felt a cold, damp cloth on her forehead, just before hearing the faint click of a door.

"Where...?"

"Downstairs loo. Don't talk." She felt the back of his hand softly touch her cheeks. "Hmmnn. Not warm. How were you feeling this morning?"

"Fine." She blinked her eyes open and wished she hadn't.

"Well, you can't te..."

Nigel stumbled against her, almost knocking both of them to the floor.

"Nigel?"

"The room's turning."

"Close your eyes. It helps."

She studied him through half-closed lids. His cheeks did have a faint greenish tinge, and she was sure hers must too.

Her stomach lurched so she squeezed her eyes shut again. She heard Nigel sit heavily, she assumed on the toilet. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

"We should probably go home."

"Yes," he agreed faintly. "If we can manage to escape the bathroom."

Trying to inject some humour into things, she said, "Yes, and it should be soon or we'll have rumors flying around as to why Professor Fox and her hunky TA went into the restroom together and didn't come back out."

"Funny, Sydney." He sounded embarrassed, but she bet he was smiling.

A sharp pain in her stomach made Sydney gasp and double over. Then, a strange feeling came over her, as if she were being pulled from the inside. It was accompanied by another wave of pain. Sydney's hand clenched tighter on Nigel's shoulder.

"What's happening?" he squeaked before her hand was suddenly empty. Without Nigel's support, Sydney stumbled.

Her eyes flew open and what she saw made her whole body go numb with shock. She didn't even notice that the dizziness and queasiness had left as suddenly as it had begun.

She was outside. The air was warm and the sky was blue. She stood in a small meadow bordered by trees. The grass and leaves were both tinged slightly with brown. She didn't recognize any of it, and the only comforting thing within sight was Nigel on the ground at her feet.

"Nigel," she said, grabbing onto the familiar, "You okay?"

"I don't know." His voice was hesitant. "Where are we? How did we get here?"

"Damned if I know," she admitted, reaching down to help him up.

"Thanks." Nigel brushed off his jeans and looked around with fear in his eyes. "I don't like this, Sydney."

"I don't like it much myself."

She looked around, trying to decide where to go or what to do. Part of her mind kept insisting that she was passed out on the bathroom floor.

"This way," she said, picking a direction at random. It all looked pretty much the same to her, but anything was better than just standing there.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here."

The answer seemed to satisfy Nigel and he started after her without another question.

"Hey!"

The new voice came from behind them. Sydney raised an eyebrow at Nigel, who shrugged. Together, they turned to find two people, young enough to be in her first or second year classes, coming towards them. One was a pretty girl with long, dark hair and a long, sweeping dress that brushed the ground as she walked. The other was a small man, about Nigel's size, with wild blond hair. He was dressed in gray robes almost as long as his companion's dress, and an interesting charm hung around his neck. As they got closer, Sydney noticed that the girl had large, dark eyes and the man was grinning shyly.

The woman turned to the man and said, "It's really them. Rayzi, you did it."

"We're really who?" Sydney asked.

Blushing slightly, the girl said, "Excuse my manners. I am Theri, and this is Rayzi. He brought you here, at my request."

"Brought us here?" Sydney drew her brows together. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Come with us, and we'll explain everything."

Sydney shared another look with Nigel. Their abductors looked harmless enough, though the young woman carried herself with an air of authority.

"I don't know that we want to go with you."

Theri looked surprised that they would protest. Sydney guessed she wasn't used to hearing 'no'. This didn't bother Sydney--she was used to saying no to those who had never heard it before.

"Please come with us. We mean you no harm."

"I've heard that before."

"Fine," Rayzi said with a shrug, dropping to the ground to sit with legs crossed and back straight.

"Rayzi," Theri protested.

"Sit, Theri. If we want them to help us, they have to see that we're sincere."

She looked doubtfully down at the ground, then at her pristine dress. Then, she looked at Sydney hopelessly and sat. Sydney looked at Nigel and inclined her head. With a shrug, he dropped down to the ground as well. She settled beside him, still regarding Theri and Rayzi warily.

"So, what's this about? Why did you abduct us? You could have come to my office anytime and I would have given you a fair hearing. And where are we? I'm unfamiliar with this place or your dress."

"Coming to you was not an option." This was Rayzi. "It doesn't work that way."

"What do you mean it doesn't work that way?"

"You've crossed over."

"Crossed over?" Nigel gasped. "You mean we're dead?"

"No." Rayzi shook his head emphatically. "You've just crossed realities. I'm sorry about the dizziness and nausea. It's very difficult to do, and I hadn't done it before."

"Okay," Sydney said, her head spinning. "Start from the beginning. What's going on?"

"As we said," this was Theri, her voice quiet and soft, but still strong, "I am Theri, and he is Rayzi. This country you find yourself in is Telurra. Usually this valley and all the valleys and trees and fields that surround it would be bursting with green new growth. We have a mild climate here with lots of fresh, life-giving rain. But this year the rains didn't come. Our land is starting to wither and die, animals and children are becoming sick. I had to do something.

'We have a legend here about a woman. She lived several centuries ago. Her name was Karolyne, but they called her The Rainmaker. She could actually change the weather and, at the same time, keep the delicate balance of nature. No one's been able to do this without harm since.

'In the legend, Karolyne had a staff. It's said that when she died, all of her power went into it."

"A relic," Sydney whispered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing. Continue."

"I decided to find the Staff. It might not exist, but at least it's hope. Since I can't go get it myself, I needed some help, so I asked Rayzi to find me the best, most reliable and honourable adventurer he could."

"Sydney," Nigel said matter-of-factly.

"Not exactly. His divination showed the two of you. Together."

"Me?"

"Of course, Nigel," Sydney said absently. "We're a team. About this divination?"

"Rayzi's a mage," Theri answered.

He added, "Not a very good one, right now. I used most of my power to haul you through the barrier."

"Okay," Sydney said, rubbing a hand over her forehead. "Suppose this story of yours is actually true, can you send us home again?"

"Eventually. I have to wait for my full power to return. That will take at least several days. Maybe even a tenday."

"Name your price. We'll pay you anything we're able to give," Theri hastened to add. "I don't know how money works on your side of the barrier, but if you'd rather have something else...We truly need your help."

Sydney raised an eyebrow. "And you're not going after the Staff because?"

Theri dropped her eyes. "I can't. Father would never allow it."

"Theri's the heir to the Telurran thone," Rayzi said.

"I believe you," Sydney said. She didn't know why, but she did.

"You believe them?" Nigel sounded incredulous. "What part?"

"All of it."

"You don't think we were drugged, then stolen by more natural means from the university?"

Sydney knew that she wasn't always the best judge of character, but something in her couldn't help but believe. "What do you believe, Nigel?"

She looked at him and saw his handsome face go thoughtful. "Well...we've seen some pretty strange things in the years we've been working together. Spirits. Vampires. Curses. Past life regression. If those things are possible, why not different realities?"

"What if we refuse to go look for the Staff?" This question was once more posed to Theri.

The young woman, princess if she was to be believed, looked sad but replied, " We'll send you home, if you wish, after Rayzi regains his full strenth. We didn't bring you here to blackmail you or threaten you. We just need your help."

"And what would helping you involve?"

"Well, the Staff is believed to be buried in the town Karolyne died in, though it doesn't exist anymore and the exact location is unknown. We would be sending a guide with you. His name is Yorn. He's a little abrasive, but he knows the wilds of the country better than anyone else. Find the Staff, if you can, and bring it back to us."

"Something tells me it's not as easy as it sounds."

"It is wild country, and it may be dangerous. Plus, it may take awhile..."

"Though I should be able to send you back to within a couple of days of when you left," Rayzi broke in.

Sydney thought a few moments, but already knew what she was going to say. The excitement of a new hunt was already burning in her belly. It didn't matter that she had never heard of Telurra or that the relic wasn't of her world. The fact that she would be looking for something human hands hadn't touched for hundreds of years was enough.

"We'll do it."

"We will?" Nigel looked at her sideways.

"Unless you want to go home, Nigel. I could always go find it by myself."

"Without me?"

Sydney knew that, as much as he complained on a hunt, he hated for her to go on one without him. In fact, it even sometimes made him pout like the fresh-faced little boy he often resembled. Sometimes, she liked to tease him, just to see if he would do it.

"Well, Nigel, make a choice."

"I'm not going anywhere without you, Syd."

There was firm finality in his voice. Those who didn't know Nigel as well as Sydney did might have been surprised at the strength in it. Sydney, however, had seen Nigel at his worst and at his best, and she knew--though he often annoyed her--that he was a lot more valuable than anyone, including himself, gave him credit for.

She gave him a smile to show that she was pleased. He gave her a small smile back to let her know he wasn't angry with her.

Theri let out a sigh and rose gracefully to her feet. "I'm so glad you have decided to help us. One of our summer cabins is near here, right through those trees. You can get washed up and some food and rest. We'll tell you all we know about The Rainmaker. Tomorrow, Yorn will arrive to join you."

Sydney also got to her feet, then helped Nigel to his. "Tell me about this Yorn."

"He guides caravans and travellers throughout our country, guarding them when necessary. He is a good swordsman, and loyal to the crown, but..."

"He's a little on the surly side," Rayzi finished for her.

Sydney heard Nigel mumble, "Great."

"He's not going to murder me in my sleep or anything, is he?" she asked.

"No."

"Then I'll deal with him."

The two Telurrans led Sydney and Nigel through the dry meadow. Now that Sydney knew about the drought, she could see the signs of it everywhere. Brown, parched earth, with threaded cracks, puffed up from her feet, and the grass she stepped on stayed down as if defeated.

"So, why did you bring us to the meadow?" Sydney asked. "Wouldn't it have been easier just to bring us to the cabin?"

"We had no idea what your reaction would be. As a seasoned adventurer, you might have killed us first and asked questions later."

Sydney couldn't argue with that. She had been surprised enough and disoriented enough to lash out.

They made their way towards the trees, and a path through them became visible. This, they followed for about ten minutes before coming to another clearing. In this sat a three story mansion made of stone, with a big wooden door and a thatched roof.

"That's a summer cabin?" Nigel asked, stopping short. His eyes and mouth were both open wide.

"Come."

As they went into the building, the impossibility of what was happening hit Sydney. Even so, she could not deny the reality of her surroundings. Since Nigel's first protest, he had seemed to accept things. She supposed it was because she did. Nigel usually followed her lead in most things, whether he agreed with her or not. That was probably because they were technically boss and employee.

The inside of the cabin was simple but elegant. It was done in bold colors and, despite the obvious cost, it still managed to look comfortable and homey.

"The rooms we set aside for you are on the third floor," Theri told them, then blushed slightly. "Unless you'd rather share."

"Oh, no," Nigel was quick to say. "We're just associates. We don't...We haven't..."

Sydney smiled at the both of them. "Two rooms will be fine."

"Two rooms it is. Would you like to wash or rest? I'm not sure what time it was in your world when you crossed over."

"It was late morning. I'd like to hear more about this hunt you're sending us on."

"And then maybe some lunch?" Nigel suggested.

The princess smiled at Nigel and he gave her a goofy smile back. Sydney rolled her eyes as she realized that Nigel's charm had snared itself another victim. Despite his innocent ignorance of it most of the time, it seemed to capture almost every woman he came in contact with.

"I think I can handle that," Theri said. "What exactly would you like to know, Sydney? I'll tell you what I can."

They spent the next several hours discussing the ruins of Lesha. Theri didn't know much about the site, but she told them of some of the dangers Sydney, Nigel, and Yorn might face along the way. To Sydney, it sounded hazardous but doable, especially when compared to some of their other hunts. The only thing Sydney didn't like was the time frame. From what Theri and Rayzi said, the hunt could take months, and, even if Rayzi could put them back where they started, it would still be a long time before they saw home again.

Finally, Nigel's stomach ended the conversation by protesting--very loudly--the absence of food. Sydney raised both of her eyebrows at him, and both Theri and Rayzi laughed.

Nigel colored and said, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Theri assured him. "It's long past the time we should have stopped to eat. In fact," and here her eyes twinkled mischievously as she glanced at Rayzi, "I'm surprised Rayzi hasn't protested way before now. Usually, you never see him without something stuck in his mouth."

The young mage just grinned at this. "It's true."

The three of them got up from the table they had been using for their conversation. It was located in a small study of some kind, done in the color of deep mahogany. From there, they went to a large diningroom. The table was intricately and beautifully carved and must have been able to fit at least fifty people. Unlit candles circled the room on elegant sconces and in between them rested tapestries depicting the royal family and scenes of hunting.

"I'll be back in a moment," Theri said and disappeared through a door on the other end of the room.

Nigel, Sydney, and Rayzi settled at the nearest end of the table, Nigel on Sydney's right and the mage across the table.

"In my divination, Sydney, I saw you with a small, handheld crossbow. Do you have it with you?"

Sydney reached into the pocket of her long, black jacket and produced the named weapon. "As a matter of fact, I do." She never went anywhere without it. "I also have one of these." She reached down into her boot and hauled out her knife. Then, she placed it on the table.

"Impressive. In the area you are travelling, it's also useful to have a sword. Do you want one?"

"Are there many out there carrying one?"

"Almost everyone, especially those that could endanger you on your journey."

"Then, yes, thanks."

"Nigel?"

Nigel had been studying the carvings on the table, but came to attention at the sound of his name.

"I'd cut off my bloody foot," he blurted.

Sydney almost laughed out loud. Fighting it off, she only allowed herself a small smile as she asked, "What about Sir Nigel the Brave?"

"He's a lot clumsier than he used to be."

Poor Nigel. He did seem to have the worst luck of anyone she knew. It seemed to stick to him worse than cat hair on a favorite shirt.

"Sir Nigel the Brave?" Rayzi asked, his surprise evident. "Are you a knight, Nigel?"

"No, no, no..." Nigel assured him quickly. "Only in childhood games."

"I don't know," Sydney said teasingly, "He's been my knight in shining armour many times over the past two and a half years."

Rayzi frowned at the reference, looking puzzled. Nigel was saved from commenting on this by Theri coming back into the room.

"Cook said she should have a small lunch put together in about fifteen minutes."

The meal was strange but tasted good, and both Sydney and Nigel were used to eating what locals ate on their travels. Sydney only remembered Nigel complaining once about the food, and that was more because of an uneasy feeling about their situation than about the food. She frowned at the thought and pushed it away. Now was not the time for that particular memory.

After lunch, they discussed the hunt some more, and it made Sydney want to get started. She almost begrudged the hours she'd have to wait until morning for their guide to get there.

To pass time, Rayzi and Theri also told them about their kingdom, and it sounded to Sydney a bit like a medieval kingdom in her own universe, but with some major differences. For one thing, women had status in their own right. Despite having two younger brothers, Theri was first in line to inherit the throne.

Nigel soaked up all the information like a sponge, and Sydney was sure he'd be able to repeat it word for word any time that she might ask. She knew that, despite the fact that she was considered brilliant, Nigel was the more intelligent in their partnership. Of course, she'd never admit it to anyone. She had a reputation to protect.

The first chance Sydney had to be alone with Nigel came as the two of them went to their rooms for the evening. At the top of the stairs, Theri gave them instructions, then the Terrans went one way and the Telurrans the other.

Instead of going into her own room, Sydney followed Nigel into his. It was a large and comfortable room, done in sombre colors, with a canopy on the bed and tapestries on the wall. The carpet was thick enough to sink into, and the bed was carved much like the diningroom table. There were also a bedside stand with a flickering candle, a wash table with a porcelain basin and pitcher, and a plain but polished wardrobe.

"This is nice," Sydney commented, plopping onto his bed.

Nigel sat down beside her and nodded. When he didn't say anything, Sydney gently bumped his knee with hers.

"Nigel?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think of all this?"

He gave a fake gasp. "You're actually asking my opinion?"

When she gave him a dirty look, he laughed, making her scowl impossible to maintain. She grinned at him instead.

"I think our working with artifacts with, shall we say, unusual properties probably prepared us better for this than we might have been otherwise."

"I agree."

"The circumstances are strange, but we've seen stranger."

"Are you scared?"

"No more than usual."

"I don't think we'll have any serious problems." At his look, she amended to, "At least anything we can't handle. I just wish we knew the country more."

"I guess that's what this Yorn is for."

"I don't know if I like the thought of him or not," she admitted. "He sounds like he might be more trouble than he's worth."

"Sydney, you're not thinking of leaving without him?" Nigel asked, stunned.

"Of course not," she said, but she had briefly considered it. She looked at him out of the corners of her eyes to see if he believed her.

"We can't be wandering around a strange world by ourselves without a map."

"Absolutely."

Sydney stood and walked over to the wardrobe and opened the doors. Inside, she found men's clothes, made of some kind of durable fabric. Instead of zippers or buttons they had ties--the pants at the top and the shirts down the front. They looked to be about Nigel's size.

"Take off your shirt."

"What?"

"Your shirt. Take it off."

Nigel grumbled, but when she turned, his shirt was halfway over his head. Her eyes travelled over his skin involuntarily. She noted how smooth it looked and wondered how it felt. Surprised at herself, she snapped her eyes up, and they were on his face by the time his shirt was completely off.

"Here, try this on."

He did so without comment, and Sydney saw that she had been right. The shirt was Nigel's size. In fact, it fit him like it had been made for him.

"Hmmnn. I wonder how they knew your size."

"I don't know, Syd." Then he stood up to model it for her. "How's it look?"

"Fine, Nigel. It looks fine."

"Are you sure? How do I do these things up in the front?"

"Come here." She grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward. She studied the ties for a moment before deciding she might know how they threaded together. Frowning in concentration, she pulled and tied while Nigel fidgeted.

"It's going to take us forever if you have to dress me every morning."

She smiled at him fondly. "Then maybe you'd have your shirt tucked in."

"Whatever you say, Mummy."

Sydney found herself once more rolling her eyes. Deciding not to comment, she said instead, "I wonder what kind of clothes they have for me."

"Frilly dresses," Nigel said evilly.

"That's not funny, Nigel."

He chuckled, looking extremely pleased with himself. She just shook her head and wandered across the hall to her own room.

Part of her had cringed at Nigel's suggestion, so she was relieved to open her wardrobe and find clothes much like what she normally wore on a hunt. There was even a wrist guard for her crossbow. The clothes were all made of some sort of soft but strong leather, and there were sleeveless vests and long pants. Satisfied with that, she turned to see that her room was almost identical to Nigel's, only with different tapestries and carvings.

"Your room's nice too," Nigel said, coming in behind her.

"The clothes are better."

He went and looked into the wardrobe. "What, no frilly dresses? Maybe I should suggest some."

"Nigel, what's gotten into you today?"

"It's not every day we're whisked away to an alternate reality."

"True. We'd better get some sleep. Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day."

"All right. Night, Syd."

"Night, Nige."

As he left, Sydney noticed there was a carved trunk at the bottom of her bed. She wondered what it was for and bent to open it. Her mouth opened slightly as her eyes took in lace and ruffles. There were only three nightdresses, but it seemed she had found where they hid the frilly dresses.


	3. Chapter 3

Sydney was awakened by a light tap on the door. She sat up, yawned, and stretched. "Come in."

Nigel came bursting in. "Come in? Come in? It could have been Rayzi at the door. Or that guide fellow."

"Strange men in my bedroom at this time of the morning?" she asked, trying to keep a straight face.

She noticed that Nigel had on some of the clothes from his closet and wondered who had helped him with his shirt.

"Theri sent me to fetch you for breakfast."

"All right." Sydney threw off her covers and headed on bare feet across the woven floor covering. She was not self conscious about anyone seeing her in her pajamas, or even naked, especially Nigel, who saw her get up almost every morning while they were on a hunt. It bothered him a lot more than it bothered her.

"I'll see you downstairs."

She waved at him without even looking and heard the door click. The clothes were all similar--and black, as she liked them--so she picked out a set and fastened on the arm guard. She took a few minutes to comb her hair with a hairbrush she found near her washbasin and made a small trip to the bathroom, which was a lot more modern than she would have expected, before heading downstairs.

Reaching the dining room, she heard voices. There was Nigel's, as familiar to Sydney as her own, discussing the theories of magic with Rayzi. She heard Theri's voice, as well, and a deep one that was unfamiliar. Yorn, she assumed.

Entering the room, she got her first glimpse of the man who would be acting as their guide. Even with him seated at the table, Sydney could tell he was tall. He wasn't muscular but wiry, with the kind of build attributed to farmers and fishermen--a power that came from hard work and not body building. His hair was long and curly, a dirty blond color and wild looking. He was handsome in a rugged, lumberjack kind of way, though his face could have used a good shave.

He looked up as she came in and gave her a lopsided smile, though his blue eyes remained cool.

"There's Sydney," Theri said, causing Nigel and Rayzi to break off their conversation.

Sydney smiled. "Good morning. Something smells good. What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs and sausages," Nigel replied. "We've just been waiting for you."

Theri stood up and motioned for the man with her to do the same. Sydney's assessment had been correct. He was at least 6"2. He towered over Nigel, who also stood.

"Sydney, this is Yorn. He has agreed to be your guide."

"Pleased to meet you." His voice was gruff, much like his appearance. He stuck out his hand, though, so Sydney took it.

"Likewise."

All through breakfast, Sydney caught Yorn looking at her with calculating eyes. She wondered what he was thinking. She supposed he was questioning whether or not she could perform the job ahead. At least she hoped that's what he was thinking. It would be a shame to break some of his not-so-vital bones if his thoughts were running in a more personal direction.

Nigel seemed oblivious as he scarfed down his food as if he were in some kind of eating contest with Rayzi.

Sydney's mind went forward to the hunt. She'd need another satchel, of course, and Rayzi had offered her a sword. Her crossbow was upstairs in her jacket pocket. Hopefully, they'd be able to take some food with them. Plus, they'd need some clothes and whatever passed for toothbrushes here.

"Are you almost ready to go?" Theri asked, as if reading her mind.

"I was just thinking of the supplies I'd need."

"Just let us know, and we will find them for you."

"I don't suppose you have flashlights."

Sydney and Nigel had found, on more than one occasion, that flashlights were their biggest asset.

"I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with that item. Is it some sort of magic?"

"It's a self-contained light. We've found them to be highly useful in the past."

Theri frowned in thought. "Well, Rayzi might be able to make you one. It might not work exactly like your...flash light...but it should do the trick."

"That would be great."

"Is there anything else you think you might need?"

Sydney rattled off her thoughts while Theri listened and nodded. Then, after breakfast, she brought Sydney to a small room containing about thirty swords. Sydney chose the one she felt most comfortable with. Nigel came to watch but once more refused a blade.

"You should have some sort of weapon," Theri told him, her dark eyes showing concern.

"Believe me, I'd be in more danger of hurting myself than any enemies we might come across. Besides, I don't need a weapon, I've got Sydney."

Theri looked at Sydney, who shrugged. Nigel had always had complete trust in her to take care of him. His unshakeable faith was hard to bear at times, but at others it had been the only thing she had to lean on. Nigel believed Sydney would save him, so she did. A part of her, one she never admitted was there, lived in terror of the day she let him down. It was bound to happen eventually, and she didn't know if she could survive Nigel's loss of faith.

"Well, if you're sure." Theri didn't look as if she had the same beliefs.

Soon after that, the five of them gathered in front of the house. Sydney was pleasantly surprised to see that there were horses, though she knew Nigel would not be. In fact, he started sneezing before they even got close.

"Is there a problem?" Yorn rumbled.

"Nigel's allergic to horses," Sydney told him.

"Of course he is."

Sydney didn't like his tone. She bristled but held her tongue. It wouldn't do to get annoyed with their guide even before they started.

"I may be able to help with that," Rayzi said. He then raised his hand and stared at it a moment before a small jar suddenly appeared in it. "This is mooncrest vine. It's good for allergies. Chew a leaf a day, and you should be fine."

Nigel took the jar with a smile. "Thank you."

"Oh, I almost forgot." He started digging around in his robes. "I made this for you."

He came out with a ball of light. Sydney didn't know what else to call it. It was pale blue and shimmered in the morning air.

"Out," he said, and it went out to show he had a small glass orb in his hand. "It's controlled by voice. You can make it brighter or dimmer or turn it completely off. Will this do in lieu of a flash light?"

"That's perfect. Thanks!"

Sydney took the orb from him and stuffed it into her pack, which was getting quite full. Now, they were ready. Well, they would be as soon as Nigel finished chewing his leaf.

"How's it taste?"

"Not bad, actually."

"Hurry up and finish. We don't want to be all day getting started," Yorn growled, causing Nigel to hastily swallow the leaf.

Sydney clapped Nigel on the back, gave Yorn a dirty look, and proceeded to mount her horse.

"You know," Nigel said, "because of my allergies, I've never actually done this before."

"You'll be fine." Sydney assured him. "Sore, but fine."

Nigel struggled a moment but managed to get on his horse without incident. "Good boy," he said with a bit of a squeak in his voice.

"It's a mare, Nigel," Sydney said in amusement. "You should get along well."

"Are we ready?" Yorn's voice cut through Nigel's reply, making Sydney even more annoyed with him.

"Yes."

"Good luck," Theri called, then, "And be careful. The road you travel is dangerous."

Sydney turned and waved and saw Nigel do the same.

"And don't worry about your horse, Nigel. Just hold on. She's been trained to follow Sydney's," Rayzi added.

Then the three of them started out into the unknown. Sydney gripped the hilt at her side and prayed that this wouldn't be the time she let Nigel down. If it was at all within her power, she'd get him out of there alive.

XXX

King Izim of Lorac was eating in his private dining room surrounded by his family when his aide entered.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Your Majesty."

Knowing Vell would not interrupt without important cause, he just asked, "What is it?"

"Important news from Kwinsi."

Kwinsi was Izim's advisor mage. The king's appetite broke, and he quickly got up from the table. His wife and children stood as well.

"Excuse me," he said. "Please continue eating."

As he left the room, the others resettled in their seats.

"What did Kwinsi say?" Izim demanded of Vell.

"He wouldn't tell me anything except that it's important and has to do with Telurra, Your Majesty."

"Telurra?" Izim had been holding a drought spell over the larger and richer nation to the south. "Is there something wrong with the spell?" Weather spells were extremely unstable and unpredictable.

"I don't know, Your Majesty."

Without any more conversation, the two men headed off to the mage's tower study. They found him there, surrounded by his books, with a frown on his face.

"Kwinsi, there is news?" the king asked without even pausing for a greeting.

The old mage looked up. "Yes, Sire."

"Is it the spell? Is it failing?"

"No. The spell is fine."

"Then, what is it? Is there a problem?"

"It's that...that child."

Izim drew his brow together. "What child?"

"Princess Theri of Telurra."

"What's the brat done?" Izim snarled.

"She's hired adventurers to find Karolyne's Staff."

The king was stunned. He had forgotten about that legend in the lore of his neighbors. "What?"

"If the Staff is found..."

"Yes, I know." Izim clenched his fist. "All this will be for nothing. Get me Roj. Now."

XXX

They travelled through sleepy countryside for most of the morning. Nigel, for once, wasn't complaining, and their guide was morosely silent. Taking her cue from them, Sydney was quiet herself.

And Nigel wasn't sneezing. The leaf seemed to be doing its job. Maybe that was why he wasn't complaining. Sydney snuck a look at him. He was perched at a very odd angle in his saddle. There was also interest in his eyes as he watched the scenery go by. At least he hadn't fallen off of his horse yet.

Nigel noticed her peeking at him--she couldn't have been as subtle as she thought--and grimaced comically at her. She smiled back.

"How's your butt?"

"Numb, thank you."

"It'll get a lot worse before it gets better."

"That's what I like about you, Syd. You're always trying to cheer me up."

Sydney's smile turned to a laugh.

"Do you want to stop for lunch?" Yorn asked from where he was ahead of them, turning around. It was the first civil thing Sydney had heard him say.

"I think we could all stand to eat and stretch our legs," she replied.

The hard packed dirt road they were travelling was bordered by brown tinged fields and meadows. Occasionally, there was a farmhouse in the distance. There were also some skinny animals behind stone fences. Some were cows, and others were types she'd never seen before.

Yorn led them off the road into one of the unfenced meadows. "This is as good a place as any."

Nigel looked around nervously. "Are you sure we're allowed here?"

Yorn shrugged. "Most people don't mind as long as the crops or animals aren't disturbed."

That was good enough for Sydney. She slid gracefully down off of her horse. Nigel seemed to be trying to figure out how to get down as he looked at the ground from one side of the mare and then from the other. She went over to see if he needed some help.

"Syd?"

"Lift your leg and swing it down backwards over your saddle."

"What? That's easier said than done."

"Would you rather stay on the horse?"

He grumbled but leaned forward and slightly sideways, putting his weight in one stirrup. With a grunt, he brought his other leg around, catching it on the back of the saddle.

"Sydney!" He cried as he lost his balance and started to fall.

"Careful," she said, catching him before he could break his leg or fall to the ground. "All right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Yorn raised his eyebrow at them but said nothing as he dug through the packs for food. Sydney gave him a stern look and dared him to say something. This got a shake of his head in answer.

"Do you suppose I'll get any better at that?" Nigel asked.

"With practice." At least she hoped so.

He seemed to take this at face value and moved forward to accept an apple, some cheese, and a chunk of bread from Yorn.

"Thank you."

Yorn grunted then handed some of the same fare to Sydney.

"Thanks." She received another grunt in answer.

The three of them ate in silence, standing and walking a little to stretch muscles. Sydney noticed Nigel wincing as he walked and almost winced herself in sympathy. Even though he wasn't at home on a horse, his clothes made him fit in with their surroundings. She had thought it several times at the cottage, and she thought it again now. It was as if the whole place suited him in a way their modern world did not. Maybe it was because his love of ancient civilizations was even more passionate than her own. Maybe to him, it seemed like he was living things he had only read about. After all, as a child he was Sir Nigel the Brave.

Yorn broke the silence by asking, "Can you use that thing?"

He was indicating her sword.

She smiled at him thinly. "A bit."

"Sydney beat a demon once," Nigel said, his tone showing he scoffed at Yorn's disbelief in Sydney's abilities.

"Is this true?"

Sydney raised an eyebrow and answered saucily, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You're a strange lady, Sydney Fox."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I hate to interrupt this love fest," Nigel said, glancing at the two of them warily. "I was was wondering...um...where should I go to use the facilities?"

Yorn's cool gaze swept to Nigel. "There's a tree over there."

"Will that be all right?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Good," Sydney said, taking Nigel's arm. "I'll come with you."

"What?"

Sydney didn't answer as she led him towards the tree.

"Sydney, no offense here, but using the bathroom is something I can definitely do by myself."

"Shut up and pee. I won't look. I want to talk about Yorn."

"Pee? I can't pee with you standing here!"

"Sure you can, Nigel. Think of lakes and rivers and ponds. Waterfalls. Rainstorms. I'm sure it will come to you." She looked at how close they were standing. "Just don't aim it at me."

Nigel sighed and started fumbling for the ties of his pants. Sydney shifted slightly so she was out of the line of fire.

"So, what was so important that you had to follow me to the bathroom?"

"Yorn," she said lowly, "I don't like him."

"That's pretty obvious. But is it the 'I don't like him, I'll hate him forever' kind of dislike, or is it the 'I don't like him, my he's attractive, look at those muscles, I wonder if he'd fancy a shag' kind of dislike?"

Sydney stiffened at this, unsure how to react. It was so seldom that Nigel showed her his teeth. He must have been really annoyed at her. She settled for giving him a cutting look, one that usually sliced through him. This time, he didn't even flinch.

"I just wish we didn't have to trust him."

"Theri said he could be trusted."

"That he was loyal to the crown. Still, how do we know he won't leave us alone out here to die?"

"Theri wouldn't look favorably on that."

She scowled. "I just wanted you to know I don't trust him...No matter what Theri says."

"What do you propose we do?"

"Just watch him...Are you done yet?"

"Surprisingly. Next time, can I go alone?"

"We'll see."

"If you two are through," Yorn's voice travelled to them, "we should get back on the road."

"Coming," Sydney called back.

"Are you going to go?" Nigel asked.

"I'll go later."

Nigel hastily tied up his pants, and the two of them headed back to the horses. Yorn was already seated on his horse.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Sydney waited to make sure Nigel didn't have too much trouble mounting before doing so herself.

"We should be reaching Lindz by nightfall," Yorn said, "So, we will have a bed tonight. The inn isn't fancy, but it's clean. I've stayed in worse."

"We probably have too," Nigel mumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

As they travelled this time, Sydney began to notice that things were starting to look worse. The brownish tinge had turned to spots and the animals had started looking even thinner. Yorn volunteered that the grounds around the summer cottage were the healthiest in the country, and the further they travelled, the worse it would get.

"In some places," he said, "the grass and trees are completely brown, and once strong, flowing rivers have turned to trickles."

It was really a shame. Sydney could tell the scenery around her was meant to be lush and green.

They rode on through the day in the same formation, their guide in front, and Nigel and Sydney slightly in back. They passed few travellers, and most of them had a thin, hungry look to them--except the people who looked as if they had never wanted for anything in their lives.

Nigel and Yorn were mostly silent, as they had been in the morning, leaving Sydney to her own thoughts. Her mind flitted from subject to subject--whether Karen was doing all right, if anyone had noticed they were gone, how close to the time they left Rayzi could send them back, and if they would be as sick this time. Mostly, though, she thought about the current hunt. Theri had told them the complete story of Karolyne The Rainmaker, and it was fascinating.

Once before, their country had been plagued by drought. It had lasted years, and the people were destitute. Then, a child had been born. She was the child of a farmer, and she could change the weather. When she was a little girl and her power started manifesting, she had caused a small shower on her farm. Word spread, and the king of the time came and took her away from her parents. His mages trained her, and soon their land was rich and green again. Weather wasn't her only power, and she was the most powerful mage in the kingdom. She dedicated her life to helping the people of Telurra. Eventually, she married and had a family, but her husband and children were murdered. She retired to a small village called Lesha and refused to leave. Petitioners, including the king, had to come to her, and then they were often refused.

And then war had come. Telurra was invaded by a country called Lorac, and Karolyne had joined in the fight against them. Using her weather magic, she was able to help turn them back. Afterwards, she returned to her self-imposed exile. Lorac agents found her and killed her, but they were unable to take her Staff.

"What are you thinking?" Nigel asked, startling her from her thoughts.

"I was thinking about The Rainmaker."

"Everything she had someone took away."

"It's sad. I hope we find her Staff and help the Telurrans as much as she selflessly helped them in the past."

"And that we come to a better end."

She glanced at him. "Don't be a pessimist, Nigel."

"I can't help it. What if her Staff is cursed? Or holds her bitter memories of death?"

"Nigel."

"You know it's possible, Sydney." He waved a hand. "Think of all the negative residue we've had to deal with in the past."

Sydney shook her head. "I don't think Karolyne would do anything to hurt her people. Lorac, maybe, but not Telurra."

"Well, I hope you're right."

XXX

Yorn had been right about reaching the town. The sky was just starting to turn colors when they reached a sign saying, "Welcome to Lindz." Beyond the sign were a collection of small houses, a couple of shops, and a large building with a barn in the back. The town didn't look like much, but Sydney had definitely seen worse.

The town was quiet as they rode through towards the inn. There was no one on the streets, but it didn't have a deserted feel. The life was there; it was just hidden behind wooden doors. The painted signs of the shops swung slightly with the wind, and Sydney saw they had both words and pictures.

"Look, Nigel. A cobbler. A blacksmith."

She looked at him and saw his eyes and face were glowing as they did when they found a relic he was particularly interested in.

"How many people from our world do you think have actually seen this?" he asked.

A grin came to Sydney's face at his enthusiasm. She loved it when he was in this mood; he always seemed so happy. She couldn't blame him. This was almost like being in their own past, like a living, breathing relic.

Then a sudden thought came to her that immediately wiped the grin from her face. What if Nigel decided to stay here? He had no real home and no family except his estranged brother to go back to. What if the allure of living in the past was too much for him to say no to? Granted, Nigel liked his modern comforts, but would they be enough to make him go back? Would she be enough? Sydney couldn't imagine her life without Nigel. She had come to depend on him more than she ever thought she could. He figured out the puzzle when she couldn't; he came to save her when she was lost; he was there to believe in her when no one else, including herself, did. What would she do without him?

"Is there something wrong, Syd?"

She shook her head, shaking away the unwelcomed thoughts. "No, I'm just tired."

"Me too." He grimaced, shifting gingerly. "I think my blisters have blisters."

This brought her smile back. "Poor Nigel. Hopefully, they'll have a tub so you can soak them out."

"And just think, we'll be doing this every day for weeks."

Yorn turned. "You'll get used to it after awhile. You just need to develop the right muscles for it. A good soak is a good idea. For you too, Sydney. You're both going to be a lot sorer in the morning than you are right now." Then he eyed them strangely. "And I'd advise you not to do anything too...strenuous tonight."

Nigel blushed suddenly and said, "We're not..."

But Sydney interupted. Let Yorn think what he liked. If his thoughts ran that way, it might even keep him away from her. "Noted, thanks."

Nigel looked at Sydney with raised eyebrows, but she just shrugged.

As they pulled up in front of the inn, a little freckle-faced girl of about ten came out to meet them.

"Hi," she said, "take your horses? Copper a night per horse."

"Sure." Yorn slid off of his horse and his severe look softened slightly as he dug in a belt hung around his waist. "Here's four. One for you."

The girl's face lit up. "Thank you, sir."

He actually smiled at her briefly before gathering his bags.

Sydney and Nigel both dismounted, and Sydney almost stumbled as she touched the ground. Nigel moaned softly and collapsed to the dirt.

"Nigel!"

"Sorry, Syd." He looked extremely embarassed. "My legs just wouldn't hold me."

"Get him inside," Yorn instructed, "Before they start to cramp up."

Sydney helped Nigel to his feet and threw his arm over her shoulder. Her legs and butt weren't feeling that great either, but at least she could walk.

Yorn took all three packs while Sydney helped Nigel inside. The inside was small but cozy, well-made, and clean. They entered into a common area, where a few people were eating or drinking.

"They don't have a bathhouse here," Yorn told them, but they have a wooden tub that can be brought to your room for a small fee. This place is reasonable, so we can afford it."

For obvious reasons, Theri had put Yorn in charge of the money.

The three of them went to the counter by the door, where the portly innkeeper smiled at them. It dropped slightly when he saw Sydney half carrying Nigel.

"Is everything all right?"

"First time on a horse," Yorn explained. "Two rooms. One with a tub. Hot water. Filled twice."

"Certainly, sir. That will be three silver. Your rooms are at the top of the stairs, one on the left, one on the right."

"Thanks."

Yorn paid and took the keys before they slowly went upstairs.

"You two can have the the one on the left," Yorn said as they reached the rooms.

Sydney was still reluctant to break his belief in her and Nigel's couplehood, so she just nodded. She still didn't trust Yorn, and there was no way she was going to allow her and Nigel to be separated.

She awkwardly opened the door of their room, and they shuffled inside. Yorn came in briefly, dropped their bags inside the door, then went to his own room. Sydney helped Nigel to the bed and helped him sit.

"Okay?"

"Those crampings Yorn warned about, I think they're coming." He winced in pain.

As he said this, two young women, possibly sixteen, entered carrying a big tub. It barely fit in the little room. Sydney was pleased to see that it was big enough to sit in comfortably.

"You wanted a tub, ma'am?"

"Yes, thank you."

"It will take a few minutes to fill. We have to bring the water from downstairs."

"That will be fine."

"Just don't take too long," Nigel groaned, leaning back to lay down.

They didn't. Before she knew it, Sydney was downstairs eating stew with Yorn while waiting for her turn in the tub. The guide told her there was some salve that might help Nigel's muscles, and her own, which had started to tighten. He was pretty sure he could get it at the local apothecary, and would do so after they'd eaten.

Sydney had ordered Nigel to stay in the tub for at least an hour, so after she had eaten and Yorn had left, she got one of the girls to make Nigel up a tray.

She carried it up and tapped at the door. "Nigel, I'm coming in."

When she opened the door, he squeaked, "Sydney!"

"I wanted to bring you something to eat. Are you feeling better?"

"Fine. Weren't you going to give me an hour?"

"I still am. I just didn't want to sit down there by myself." She moved to put his tray on a nearby stand. "I'm just going to lay down for a bit. Let me know when it's my turn."

She went over to the bed and flopped down, closing her eyes. She was tired and she hurt and she hated not knowing where they were going.

"You all right?" he asked for the second time in an hour.

"I'm fine. I just don't like having to rely so much on Yorn. And my butt hurts."

"That, I can relate to."

Sydney smiled slightly, forcing her body to relax. Maybe she'd even have a slight nap before it was her turn for the tub. The bed wasn't the most comfortable she had ever lain on, but it wasn't too lumpy.

She had almost let Nigel's splashing and off-key humming lull her to sleep when a knock on their door jarred her awake. She blinked sleepily.

"It's Yorn. I brought the salve."

"What salve?" Nigel asked.

Sydney explained to him as she went to let the guide in. She also passed Nigel a towel on the way by.

"How's he feeling?" Yorn asked when she opened the door.

"Ask him yourself."

"Still sore," Nigel admitted. Sydney could hear him splashing out of the tub. "But not as bad."

"This stuff will keep you from stiffening up. You use some too, Sydney."

"I will."

"The girls are coming up in a few minutes to change your bath water."

"Good. Thanks."

He turned and went into his own room, and Sydney closed the door. Nigel had wrapped his towel around his waist and was headed for the stew she had brought him earlier. Sydney sighed. She just couldn't wait for the girls to get up there and change the water. She really needed a bath.

XXX

The next morning, they started out quite early. Sydney was feeling stiff, but not as bad as she had feared. That was probably due to the salve now tucked safely in her pack. Nigel was a little stiffer than she was, so she helped him onto his horse. Events of the night before after her bath were kind of fuzzy. Nigel had gone downstairs to give her privacy. She had soaked her stiffness away, then sleepily used the salve and put on one of the lacey nightdresses. Once she slipped into the bed, she conked out before her head hit the pillow. She vaguely recalled Nigel coming to bed sometime later, and that was it until morning.

"How much further do we have to go?" Nigel asked.

"It should take about three ten-days," Yorn answered.

Nigel's mouth opened, and he looked at Sydney. She shrugged. It wasn't as if she could change how long it took.

"Don't worry. Your flesh should make it that far." The smile Yorn aimed at Nigel was definitely mocking.

"That's a relief...I think."

"So, where to today?" Sydney broke in.

"We'll be traveling towards Wester. It's a two day ride, so we'll have to camp out tonight. You prepared for that?"

"I think we can handle it."

She had a sudden vision of Nigel sleeping in a gypsy tent with a bunch of snoring men crushed together. He always used it as the worst place he'd ever slept when they spoke of such things. Her most unpleasant awakening had been in an abandonned warehouse where she found out she was about to be sacrificed. Sleeping outside wasn't going to be too much of a problem. They'd done that before too. At least, sleeping outside here, they didn't have to worry about rain.

They started out at pretty much the same pace as the day before. Nigel grunted as they started, but once more didn't complain. It was unusual for him to stay silent about his discomfort for so long. She wondered if he was intimidated by Yorn.

Finally, she came out and said, "Nigel, you're awfully quiet. What are you thinking?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking about how peaceful it seems here, despite their problems. It's so calm and quiet. No cars, no cellphones, no computers. Not that I don't like those things, but it's nice to get away from them for awhile. We've been in remote places before, but we always had a cellphone or my laptop. It's kind of freeing."

"Well, wait until we get to the sword fights. You might be ready to go home then." At least she hoped so.

"True."

"It'll be a lot nicer once we find the relic."

He nodded. "I hope we don't have too much excitement until then. A nice, sedate ride is just my style."

"Maybe more your style with a pillow."

"Funny."

"I thought so."

"So, how long have the two of you been married?" Yorn interupted from up ahead.

"We've been together almost three years," Sydney said truthfully.

"It shows. Though most couples don't pass water together."

"You should see us in the bathtub."

"Sydney!" Nigel exclaimed, so she winked at him.

Yorn just rolled his eyes and started forward again. Sydney was feeling very pleased with herself. She was also in a playful mood, which was strange. Usually, when she was on a hunt, she was deadly serious, no matter how playful she was the rest of the time. It probably had something to do with the endless (except for meals and short rests for the horses) riding and silence.

They passed more people on the road than they had the day before, but they were mostly the same type. Early in the afternoon, they passed a group of a dozen men in uniform with shiny swords and sour expressions. The king's men, Yorn told her afterwards.

That was pretty much the only excitement they had all day. Sometime just before dark, Yorn suddenly broke from the road and took them into a meadow with a small stream slowly flowing by its edges.

"This used to be a river," he said. Sydney could see by its path how it had once been much larger. "Big enough to wash and fill our waterskins in, though."

Sydney slid off of her horse and helped Nigel off of his. Though she hated to admit it, she told Yorn she didn't know what to do to make their mares comfortable for the night. The big man showed her with his own, and she and Nigel copied his actions, Nigel letting out little moans once in awhile. She bet he'd be glad to get done and put his salve on. At least he was standing on his own two feet. As for herself, her legs and bottom were sore, but not quite as much as they had been the day before. She was still looking forward to the salve, though.

After caring for the horses, Sydney, Nigel, and Yorn went off one at a time to perform personal functions (which included the applying of salve). Since the grass was too dry for a fire, they had a cold but filling supper before preparing their bedrolls.

They stayed up for a little while after that talking. Yorn was curious about them.

"So," Yorn said, leaning back on the outside of his bedroll, "where do you come from? You know nothing of money and almost as little about horses and Telurra."

Sydney was sitting cross-legged on her own bedroll with Nigel beside her. "How much did Princess Theri tell you?"

"That you come from far away, where customs are different. That it took a lot of magic to get you here. That you are famous adventurers. That's about it."

"That's all true. Nigel and I hunt for relics like The Rainmaker's Staff all the time. We're also teachers. We teach about the history of these relics. That's how we met."

"I assume your kingdom is allied with ours."

"Honestly, our...um...kingdom is so far away that we'd never heard of yours."

"Then your arrival was completely through magic?"

"Apparently."

"In your...what did you say? Relic hunting? ...have you had any experience with danger?"

"Well, I don't know how adventuring is here, but where I come from, danger is a big part of it."

"So, you really know how to use the toe stabber on your hip then?"

"Yes, I do." She reached into her boot and drew out her dagger. It made a familiar rasping sound as it slid out of its sheath. "I know how to use this one too."

Since they didn't have a fire, they were only illuminated by the stars and the little globe of light Rayzi had given her. The dagger set off several sparkles in its glow.

"You want to hope so."

"Sydney's more than a match for anyone," Nigel said, sounding annoyed.

"Sounds like you have your own squire." His eyes flicked to Nigel. "How about you? Can you take care of yourself?"

"Nigel's fine." Sydney cut off his answer, not trusting Nigel to say something that wouldn't earn Yorn's disdain. "Leave him be."

"Don't you ever let him speak for himself?"

"I do speak for myself," Nigel protested indignantly. "I'm not Sydney's bloody puppet."

"Calm down, Nigel." Sydney gave Yorn another one of her cold, cutting looks. "He's just trying to get a rise out of you."

"Well, I'm not."

Yorn just shook his head and rumbled a laugh. "Whatever you say, little guy."

Sydney's hands clenched, and she fought off the urge to attack. She had made larger men than Yorn beg for mercy for picking on Nigel. He certainly didn't look any tougher than that giant Neanderthal of a biker that thought Nigel was pretty enough to drag back to his cave.

The fight seemed to go out of Nigel at Yorn's words, and he sighed. "Shouldn't we be getting our sleep or something? My tired muscles want to rest."

"We'll keep watch in three shifts. I'll take the first. Sydney, you take the second, and Nigel, you take the third."

"Fine," Sydney said and wasted no time crawling into her bedroll. She left Yorn with the light.

She watched as Nigel crawled into his roll beside her and turned his back on both Sydney and Yorn. She knew that Yorn's words had bitten him, mostly because of his own insecurities. Sydney wished she could put her hand on his arm and tell him that Yorn was just a jerk. With a sigh, she just gave Yorn one more glare and closed her eyes to sleep.

XXX

Sydney felt more than heard the movement near her bedroll. She knew instinctively that it was not Nigel. After their two and a half years together, he was like an extension of herself. He was asleep; she could hear his heavy breathing. The presence that had awakened her was in between the two of them. She tensed, ready to leap, and ready to grab for the dagger under her bedroll.

"Sydney." The voice was familiar.

Still, it was not familiar enough for her to unclench. She did open her eyes, though, and saw Yorn leaning over her.

"Your watch," he said.

With relief, Sydney let her body relax, though she did finish her motion to retireve the dagger from underneath her. "Anything?"

"No, it's been pretty quiet. Did you sleep all right?"

"Nigel and I are used to sleeping on the ground."

He just nodded. "See you in the morning. Wake Nigel in about three hours." Then he gave her a stern look. She supposed it was meant to intimidate her. "And make sure you wake him. Taking his turn will do him good, even if he is sore from riding."

Sydney just waved her hand at him. As she rose, she slid her dagger back into her boot sheath. She also took out her crossbow and cocked it, wanting to be ready in case something happened. Bending over Nigel to check on him, she noticed that he was sleeping peacefully and she smiled. He looked like a child when he was sleeping. Very sweet and innocent. Not that he looked very worldly when he was awake.

The night around her was quiet as Sydney walked around their campsite trying to work the cramps out of her legs. She had decided by now that walking, while slower, would have been much preferable to riding. She was used to walking--walking and running and climbing and even flipping. Riding, she could do well, but she could count on her hands the number of times she'd been on a horse in the past year. Since Nigel was allergic to horses, she didn't get much practice.

As she walked, the grass crackled softly under her feet. Nigel was right, it was nice here. Despite the land's distress, the silence was both welcoming and comforting. It was almost as if Telurra were welcoming her home.

Sydney yawned slightly, willing herself not to let the night lull her into complacency. It would be easy, especially with the soft snores coming from the bedrolls.

She went down to the stream and leaned on the bank. She was just starting to splash her face when the feel of the night changed. Her stomach clenched as the quiet around her seemed to turn ominous. Sydney froze, listening with her whole body, trying to detect what made everything suddenly wrong.

Then, she heard it. On the other side of the stream, a forest grew. It was there that Sydney heard the crackle and snap of twigs. It was only a slight sound, something that might have been missed if she had still been nearby with Nigel, Yorn, and the horses. She waited there, crouched, wondering if the noise was human or animal, friend or foe, and whether it could see her.

Her crossbow was on a rock beside her. She reached her hand out slowly, inching toward it. Just as her fingertips caressed the shaft, a figure came out of the trees. It was a big man and, in the light of the moon, he looked grizzled and mean. He was also pointing towards the light globe. He was so close to Sydney that if he turned his head he would see her.

Sydney's hand tightened around the shaft of her crossbow. She waited for it and wondered why he was pointing. This question was answered as other men slid out of the forest, all ragged and all dangerous looking. Sydney counted six, including the first. For a split second, she wondered whether she should follow them to the site or attack them here. The choice was taken from her as one of the men turned her way.

With a cry, she jumped to her feet. At the same time, the first man elbowed the man next to him and reached at his hip.

Hoping it would work, Sydney yelled, "Light, brightest!"

Light flooded the clearing, turning night to day. Even with her eyelids closed, Sydney felt the pain. Having been prepared for it, and having her eyes closed, Sydney recovered first. She blinked her eyes open and squinted in the glare.

"Dammit, Sydney, what's going on?" She heard Yorn growl. The light was closest to him. She hoped he had sense enough not to open his eyes right away.

She also heard Nigel's quietly mumbled, "Syd?"

"We're under attack."

Knowing her crossbow would be more of a hindrance than a help now that she had been discovered, she gently dropped it and gripped the hilt at her side.

The men were recovering from their blindness and also groping for their swords. Sydney slid hers out with a swish. She could hear Yorn fumbling to his feet, and hoped that Nigel had the sense to stay out of the fighting. Sometimes, when he was worried for her, or when he felt someone thought he was inadequate, he'd jump in unarmed. In the former case, everything usually came out all right, but the latter had often ended in disaster.

Two of the men rushed her while the others ran to meet Yorn, who was running towards them and roaring like a bear. There was no sign of Nigel.

Sydney dodged under the blade of one and came up to connect blade to blade with the other's. A loud clang rent the air, echoed a moment later by what she assumed was Yorn holding his own.

The man was strong, but she managed to deflect his blade. She put enough power behind it to make him stumble a little, then did a sudden backflip to avoid the sword coming from the other direction. The man stumbled, trying to adjust his swing, and she kicked him in the back of the knee to help him along. On his way down, he just missed impaling himself on his friend's blade. Sydney grimaced--that would have helped her out.

The other blade came down at her again, and once more she was able to catch it and turn it aside. She hopped back a bit and watched warily as the man circled her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the second man get back to his feet.

 _Come on, Sydney,_ she told herself, _there's only two of them._

One of the men sneered at her, and she sneered back. She faked a lunge for him, then whirled and kicked at the other one. Her foot landed squarely in his stomach, and he folded over with a satisfying grunt. When his partner made a stab towards her, she met it, throwing her body behind her blade. This man was smaller than his partner and stumbled. In his brief moment of inattention, she slammed him in the face with her hilt. Something snapped and hot, gooey liquid ran down Sydney's arm.

She heard the other man stirring behind her, so she didn't stop to think of the blood as she whirled and kicked her attacker in the head. He was stunned but didn't fall, so she followed it up with two punches to the face. He finally fell to the ground. The man with the broken nose stood holding it, blood squirting from between his fingers. She struck at him with her elbow, catching him in the temple. He crumpled to lie beside his companion.

Sydney made sure neither would get up again, then hurried over to help Yorn, who miraculously was still alive despite the fact that he had been attacked by four men. Two even lay dead--or injured--at his feet.

She saw Nigel then, off to the side, standing by the horses. He had retrieved a knife from somewhere--probably Yorn--and was standing there looking terrified. Determined, though. Yorn must have told him to guard the horses.

Sydney sprinted the short distance to where Yorn faced his two opponents. One of them heard her and turned, ready to fight. Their swords met noisily. Sydney grunted at the impact. The two of them exchanged blows, Sydney looking for a weakness. She had fought and won against better fighters than he, and she confidently met everything he dished out. She just hoped she wouldn't have to kill him. In her line of work, she had seen many deaths, some of them she had even caused, but she hated it. Death was so final.

Yorn didn't seem to feel the same way. He reached out and viciously slashed his opponent across the throat, spraying Sydney with more blood.

Her opponent realized he was the only one left and started to fight with desperation. His desperation left him wide open, and Sydney was able to knee him in the stomach, and then knock the sword from his hands. She planted her elbow in his back, and he fell. While he was on the ground, she hit him on the back of the head with the hilt of her sword. He went still.

"Who were they?" Sydney asked Yorn.

"Bandits. This forest is teeming with them. It's even worse now that the drought has come."

"We should tie these guys up."

"Or finish them off."

Sydney scowled at that, but didn't reply as Nigel approached. "Sydney?"

"Everything's fine, Nigel. See if you can find us some rope."

He nodded and went to look through the packs. Yorn watched him with disdain on his face.

"How can you stand being with someone so useless?"

She had been waiting for this question ever since the moment she had felt Yorn's hostility towards Nigel. People were always telling him he was a wimp, that he wasn't good enough, that the great Sydney Fox kept him around because she pitied him--and he believed it. It was because of jerks like this that Nigel had such a negative image of himself. She was sick of it.

She gave Yorn her coldest glare. Though she was angry, her voice was ice. "You don't know what you're talking about. Who are you to judge him? Nigel is not useless. He's just had a lifetime of jerks like you telling him he'll never be good enough. He is the most intelligent person I've ever met. He's smarter than I am, and he's definitely smarter than you. What he doesn't know about ancient antiquities isn't worth knowing. He absorbs knowledge and languages like a sponge. He's brave and loyal and there's no one else I'd rather trust my life to. He's saved it more times than I can count, which is more than I can say for those hulking, deceptive, Neaderthal types who are always out for their own interests, and who think that brawn is always superior to brain. Granted, yes, he is a little clumsy, and he frightens easily, but he never runs from danger if he knows I need him. He's my best friend and my partner, and I wouldn't be alive without him. He's worth a hundred of you. Now, lay off Nigel, or I'll break both your legs--guide or no guide."

Yorn's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak. Nigel chose that moment to reappear, lugging rope.

"Found it."

Sydney forced a smile. "Great. Let's tie up this guy, and the two over there."

Feeling something in the air, Nigel looked at Sydney, then at Yorn. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Yorn?"

"No problems, little guy. Help Sydney with the bad guys."

Yorn turned then and started wiping his blade on the grass.

"What did I miss?" Nigel asked as they started manhandling the stunned bandits.

"Nothing, Nigel. Let it go."

After the three bandits were secure, Sydney hurried to the stream to wash off the blood. Yorn took this time to tell her once more that he thought they should finish off the bandits.

"I don't like killing. It's one thing if it's unavoidable and to save yourself. It's another thing to kill in cold blood. I won't do it."

Yorn shrugged. "All right, but they'll just be around to attack us or someone else again."

"Or they could take this as a lesson and go back to their families."

"I doubt it."

"So do I," she admitted, "but there's always a chance."

"Well, what do we do with them in the meantime? Just leave them tied up on the stream bank?"

Sydney shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Yorn just shook his head and said, "Should we get a little more sleep? Nigel, your watch."

"Sure."

Sydney replied, "Fine," before going over to her bedroll. After turning their light down, she crawled in and tried to get some sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day passed without incident. It was more riding and silence. Sydney and Nigel talked to pass time, but Yorn remained apart. Not that Sydney minded. It seemed that every time he opened his mouth, it annoyed her.

Wester was a town of about the same size as Lindz, though this one had children playing in the streets. It was only mid-afternoon when they got there, and Sydney was looking forward to a few extra hours without her butt on a horse.

The inn at Wester was even smaller than the one at Lindz, and they had to stable their own horses. With Yorn's help, Sydney--and even Nigel--did a passable job. It almost broke her heart when Sydney found out the inn didn't offer baths. Her quick scrub in the stream hadn't been enough to wash off the feeling of blood.

She felt a little better when the innkeeper told her there was a communal bathouse not far away. He even hinted that if they hit it before suppertime they'd miss the swarm of sweaty farmers that bathed there after coming in from the fields.

"Thanks," Sydney said gratefully. "Coming, Nige?"

"Sure, why not?" Then he stopped. "Uh...is there division between the sexes?"

"In a way," the innkeeper answered. "There is only one bath, it's all the town can afford, but there is a sheet dividing it for modesty's sake."

Nigel had stiffened, but now relaxed. "All right, then."

"I'm going to pass," Yorn said, handing Sydney some money. "This should get you in. I'll bring the bags up to the rooms."

She accepted the money, and she and Nigel walked outside.

"So, what do you think, Nigel?"

"This is all strangely surreal," he admitted. "I mean, look, everything is so primitive, but at the same time, so...so perfect."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

They walked in companionable silence, soaking in the sights and smells and feel of the town. The most fascinating aspect for Sydney was seeing the people interact much as they must have in the past of her own reality--mothers with children, buyers and sellers bartering outside of the shops and inside behind open doors, people talking and laughing and living their lives. She had imagined it many times, but imagination didn't take into account the smell of horse sweat or the screams of children as they played a form of tag in the middle of the dirt-packed main street.

It was a street of mostly shops. Each had a beautifully painted wooden sign hanging from it with a picture depicting what went on within. The smithy had a picture of a hammer and fire and, as they walked past, Sydney could hear the clanging of metal and smell the scorch of the forge.

"It's so dusty," Nigel commented, sounding delighted. "I wouldn't have expected it to be this dusty."

"Dirt roads and wagons, Nigel."

One of them rattled by as Sydney said this, and she caught a glimpse of some withered vegetables. The man driving the cart had a stern, sallow look to him. Sydney found herself studying him sharply because of the contrast he provided to the rest of the town. Here, the people looked, if not well-fed, at least a little further from the edge of starvation than those they had met on the road. The man with the cart had the quiet, hungry desperation they saw in their days of travelling. It brought Sydney's mind back to why they were there.

"I wonder what it must be like to live here," Nigel said, watching a pretty young woman walk by.

Like the others in the town, the woman's dress was homespun, the fabric covering her from neck to ankle. Over top, she wore a simple undyed apron. Sydney found even the village clothing of this world enthralling, and she would have liked to bring an outfit home to model for her class.

"I suppose," she answered, noting that Nigel's eyes were more on the girl's figure than her clothing, "it's the same as anywhere else. It looks interesting from the outside, but from the inside, it's still the same boring daily tasks everyone has."

"Unless, of course, they work with you."

Sydney smiled at him. "There is that."

"I wonder what Yorn's regular life is like."

The guide had never offered any information about himself. They knew no more now than they had when Theri introduced them.

"I don't know, but I still don't trust him."

"Well, he did pretty well in that fight last night."

"Dereck Lloyd is pretty good in a fight too, but would you actually trust him?"

"I like Dereck."

"I do too, sometimes, but I don't trust him as far as I can throw him."

They had reached the bathhouse by then to find a very bored and very young attendant. She reminded Sydney a bit of Claudia.

"Hi! Not from around here, huh?"

"Nope. How'd you guess?"

She indicated Nigel. "That's the most interesting thing to come through here in months."

Sydney smiled at Nigel, who just blushed and ducked his head. "He is a cutie."

His eyes widened at that, making Sydney smile wider.

"Two people are four doubles, please."

Sydney handed over the four coins Yorn had pressed into her hand.

"Thanks." Sydney wondered how anybody could actually be that perky. "Men on the right, women on the left."

"Good," Sydney said. "I like the left."

The attendant winked at Nigel. "Let me know if you need someone to scrub your back."

"Yes, well...um..." Nigel said, stepping back and tripping over his feet. If Sydney hadn't caught him, he would have landed on his already sore backside.

"C'mon, Nigel." She grabbed his shirt, the one he'd finally learned to tie himself, and pushed him towards the right door. He glanced back one more time, then stumbled through. Sydney entered the door on the left more gracefully.

Inside was a huge chamber with woven robes hanging on pegs and a huge pool with steam rising from it. The pool seemed to be about four feet deep, though it sloped up to about three feet at one end. Around the room, candles glowed, flickering off the walls and the large sheet hanging down the middle of the pool. Through the sheet, she could faintly see the form of Nigel struggling with his ties.

"Need some help there, Nige?" she asked, amused.

"Do you think it would be wrong to introduce some bloody buttons to this world?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that a yes or a no?"

He sighed heavily. "I can manage."

"Just let me know."

Still amused, she undressed and slid into the water. For the moment, she and Nigel were the only ones in the bath. She grabbed the soap from the side of the pool and swam to the curtain so they could talk more easily. She could hear Nigel on the other side, splashing and singing softly to himself.

"You okay in there?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Believe it or not, I can wash myself, Sydney."

"I wish we knew more about this Rainmaker's Staff and where to find it--besides the legend, I mean. What kind of country is it? How hostile is the land? What kind of dangers do we face? Yorn isn't being very forthcoming."

"No," Nigel agreed. "Maybe he thinks we should work on a need to know basis."

"I hate 'need to know'," Sydney growled. "It just means trouble. Remember Nostradamous?"

"How could I forget? The man who hired us was the killer."

"I think when I get back, I'm going to shake some answers out of Yorn and see what falls out."

Nigel splashed a little louder. "Well, I think I'll find somewhere safe and far away for that. Yorn doesn't seem like the type who likes to be shaken."

Sydney flexed her hand. "I have my methods of persuasion."

XXX

After returning to the inn, feeling cleaner and more human, Sydney had dinner with Yorn and Nigel. Then, the three of them stayed awhile to listen to the entertainment. It was a child of about twelve singing, while a man who was probably her father accompanied her on a harp. The sound was so sweet, it seemed to reach into Sydney's heart and twist. It seemed to affect Nigel as well; when she looked at him, his eyes were brighter than normal.

She looked at Yorn through the corner of her lashes and saw the guide was entranced. The harsh scowl lines on his face had softened, and his expression was relaxed. Seeing him like that, Sydney almost believed that she could grow to like him.

The evening passed peacefully, and Sydney was feeling very mellow when the three of them finally headed up the stairs. Nigel had a touch of ale with his supper and was babbling slightly, but he wasn't really drunk. He was animately telling Yorn about the time he and Sydney went searching for the devil doll. It was a very amusing story, though it hadn't been funny at the time. Poor Nigel had twisted his ankle and caught a form of poison ivy. The part he was having such fun relating was neither of these things, however, but the bit where the two of them were tied together and Sydney had to pretty much twist herself inside out to get them loose.

Yorn listened to the story earnestly, not even threatening a smile. Sydney was beginning to believe he had absolutely no sense of humor whatsoever. At least he wasn't scowling.

At the top of the stairs, Sydney told Nigel to go ahead and go to bed, then she asked Yorn if it was all right if she talked to him privately for a few minutes. In his room, she boldly went over to his bed and sat down. "I'll get right to the point. Nigel and I are wondering what to expect here. We know the legend of The Rainmaker; we know about the Staff; we know what its supposed to do. What we don't know is what's coming up ahead. I know you're our guide and we need to trust you, but we also need to know what to expect. 'It will be dangerous' is just too damn vague."

Yorn regarded her for a moment before sitting beside her. He sat far enough away to give her her personal space.

"We are heading into dangerous territory. In another tenday, we'll leave all semblance of civilization behind. There are three small villages between here and there. Until then, our most probable threat is bandits like the ones we faced last night.

'After that, we reach real wild country. Forests. Overgrown clearings. Ruins. The dangers there are many. There was a mage war fought there about five hundred years ago, after the Rainmaker's time. The remnants still haunt the place."

Sydney's eyes widened. "What sort of remnants?"

"Stray spells still trying to capture someone, strange creatures, changed and spelled landscape. You name it. Many people who go don't come back. Eventually, we will reach country so wild that we will have to leave the horses because there is no trail. We will approach the ruins of Lesha on foot to search for the Staff. We may never find it; it's never been found. In fact, no one alive has even been to the ruins of Lesha, not that I've heard, anyway. We're not even taking into account natural predators or the brutality of the land. We'll be lucky to get in and out alive."

Sydney chewed this over before saying, "I've been in worse situations."

He nodded. "You handled the bandits well."

"Thanks." Sydney got to her feet and went to the door. She turned once before leaving to say, "Good night."

Yorn smiled. He had a nice smile and it transformed his face. "Good night, Sydney." Then, he said, "How does someone like you end up with someone like Nigel?"

She shrugged. "He accepts me for who I am."

Though their couplehood was a lie, this statement was the complete truth.

XXX

Sydney awoke suddenly in the darkness. She blinked sleepily, wondering what had awakened her. She could hear Nigel's gentle breathing beside her, so she knew he was still asleep. Her eyes were adjusted enough that she could make out his features.

Since Nigel wasn't the cause of her suddenly being awake, she sat up slowly, looking around to see if there was something wrong in their room. Her arm snaked down to the floor on her left, feeling for her knife.

"Sydney..." It was just a whisper, but it made the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand up.

"Light on," she said, causing the globe on the bedside table to let out a gentle glow. It was enough for Sydney to see she was in the room alone. Her hand tightened on the hilt of her dagger.

"Sydney..." The voice came again.

She wondered if she should wake Nigel, but decided against it.

"Who's there?" she asked softly.

"Sydney..."

"Show yourself." this was louder, loud enough to make Nigel mumble in his sleep.

There was a shimmer in the air. Sydney's stomach clenched as a form coalesced by the light globe. It was a woman, younger than Sydney, with long brown hair and pain filled dark eyes. She was wearing a floor-length white dress that covered her both to wrist and to chin. It was simple yet elegant.

"Who are you?" Sydney demanded, still low enough so she wouldn't wake up Nigel.

"Sydney, can you see me?" The voice was still a whisper, but Sydney could now hear that it was feminine.

"I can see you; I can hear you. What do you want?"

The form still shimmered, and Sydney could see the wall through it. "My name is Karolyne. I have come to warn you."

Karolyne? Then Sydney saw the Staff in the young woman's hand. Could it be? "Are you the Rainmaker?"

"I have been called that, yes." The sadness deepened. "And it cost me everything."

"Why are you here? Can you tell me where to find the Staff?"

"I have to warn you. Be careful. They come."

Sydney drew her brow together. "Who comes?"

"Them. They want my Staff. Don't let them have it. Don't. They will kill you."

"Who are they? You're not making any sense."

The spectre didn't answer her. It just slowly faded away. Its eyes continued to haunt Sydney long after they had disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Sydney didn't tell Nigel about her strange visitation. She wasn't even sure if it was real. The details were rather fuzzy, so she thought there was a pretty good chance it had been a dream. The only things she remembered clearly were the warning to be careful and the young woman's pain-filled eyes.

She did, however, tell Nigel about her conversation with Yorn. He winced when she told him about the dangers they faced but otherwise took it well. Sydney actually felt pretty good about the whole thing. It was nice to finally know what they were heading into.

They were off quite early that morning. Nigel was still yawning as they rode out of the quiet little town. Yorn informed them that it would be two more days before they saw a bed again.

Sydney thought about Karolyne and what she had given up for her kingdom. It was hard not to think of it becuase she kept seeing the spectre's eyes in her mind. Sydney hated seeing people in pain, especially women, and she wished there were some way she could take the Rainmaker's pain away. But the Rainmaker had been dead for at least a thousand years.

She also thought of the vision's cryptic remark. Who was coming? Were they this world's version of rival relic hunters? Sydney had dealt with those before. She should be able to keep them from getting, or at least keeping, the Staff.

They were now surrounded by forest. The road they were following had narrowed considerably and Nigel and Sydney could barely ride abreast. Yorn rode slightly ahead of them, as usual.

Sydney was pleased to see that Nigel was handling his horse a lot better, and that he didn't seem to have as much discomfort. She was getting used to the gentle rhythm herself, and she found herself dozing in the saddle at times.

The day passed without event, though Sydney noticed the trees were getting browner, and the vegetation seemed droopy. Nigel was in one of his talkative moods and spoke about the book on ancient mysteries he had been reading when they were torn from their home. Sydney listened to him passively, letting his words and his lilting accent wash over her like spring rain. She wished she could give a little of it to the withering world around her.

Sometime in the afternoon, she was brought back to reality by his asking, "So, do you think Karen is missing us?"

"If things work like Rayzi said, she may not even know we're gone."

"Well," Nigel admitted, looking at the reigns in his hand. "I miss her."

Sydney wondered if Nigel was finally cluing in to the signals Karen was sending. Thanks to their not-so-fun time in the sand, she knew that Nigel thought Karen was a nice and pretty girl. Though, it wasn't Karen he said he loved. Sydney smiled.

"I'm sure if she knew we were gone, she would miss you too."

He blushed. "It's not only Karen I miss. I miss my apartment and my books..."

"And don't forget your new lamp."

"Yes, even the bloody lamp. I think I'm homesick." Then he shrugged. "Pretty strange for a man who hasn't had a real home in at least fifteen years."

This news came as a relief to Sydney, though she didn't show it. Nigel had been immersing himself so deeply in this experience that her earlier fears kept coming back.

"It's only natural to feel homesick, Nigel."

"Do you?"

That was a good question. Was she? Like Nigel, Sydney hadn't really had a home, though while he was suffering through boarding school, she had been travelling the world and absorbing different cultures. She rarely got homesick, though once in awhile she longed for Hawaii. She had spent the biggest chunk of her life there, and when she was there she could feel her mother's arms around her.

"No, but I've been travelling a lot longer than you have."

He accepted this, though he still looked glum. Sydney thought it might be the oppressive feeling to the forest. It was silent and watchful. She wondered if it was the forest's thirst she was feeling or whether there was something dangerous she should worry about. She decided to remain alert just in case.

By the time they made their final stop of the day, in a small clearing Yorn told them was designed for this purpose, Sydney was feeling pretty tired. She was happy when Yorn asked her if she preferred first or second watch. Though second watch had your sleep disrupted in the middle, Sydney could think only of her bedroll. After they finished with the horses and ate their small meal, she crawled in beside Nigel and immediately fell asleep.

XXX

"Sydney!" This time the voice calling her was no ghostly spectre, but one she held dear and would give her life to protect.

Sydney sprang to her feet, her dagger in her hand. "Nigel!"

Her heart almost leapt out of her chest as she saw Nigel being hauled out of his bedroll by a man three times his size. The muscles of his forearms were bigger than Nigel's legs. Nigel looked terrified.

Nigel was in one of the man's meaty hands, but in the other he held a jagged dagger.

"Let him go," Sydney said calmly, though she felt anything but.

The man smirked at her and hauled Nigel in towards his body, holding the dagger to Nigel's throat. Nigel's eyes sought Sydney, and she tried to will him reassurance. The expression on his face calmed a little, though his skin was still as white as milk.

"What do you want?" she asked the man, her voice still as calm as she could force it.

"I want the Staff. I know you have it."

"We don't. We haven't found it yet."

The man showed his teeth. They were pointy and sharp. "I don't believe you."

"If you hurt him," Sydney hissed, letting some of the anger come into her voice, "I will hunt you down and kill you."

"I am not afraid of your threats, Sydney Fox."

With that, the man jerked his hand sideways, ripping his knife through Nigel's throat. The smaller man didn't even have a chance to make a noise as his blood exploded from him, spraying Sydney as the bandit's had.

"Nigel!" she screamed, horror washing over her body and soul. "Nigel."

The man dropped Nigel's limp body and came towards Sydney. She met him half way...

Sydney jerked awake, her heart pounding in her ears, and sweat trickling down her chest.

"Nigel!" she gasped, sitting up quickly.

Around her, the night was quiet and lit faintly by the glow from their globe light. Nearby, she saw the form of Yorn sleeping, and, on the other side, Nigel's empty bedroll.

"Nigel," she called, trying to keep panic from her voice.

"Sydney." It was the sweetest sound she'd ever heard. "Are you all right?"

He came into the circle of light, Yorn's dagger in his hand. With concern in his eyes, he knelt beside her. Unable to resist the need to prove to herself that he was alive, she threw her arms around him and hugged him close. He must have felt her shaking because he wrapped his arms around her as well.

"It's okay. You just had a bad dream."

Embarrassed, Sydney pulled away and straightened Nigel's clothes. "Sorry, Nige."

"Was it a really bad one?"

She looked at him levelly for a moment, not knowing what to say. Eventually, she settled on, "Yes, it was."

"Well, it's over now." He patted her shoulder gently. "And there's nothing out there that you can't handle. Go back to sleep."

Since Nigel was alive and well, she sighed and lay back down. She watched him as he sat on a log nearby, gripping Yorn's knife in his hand. He looked almost as if he were guarding her dreams.

Sydney rolled over on her side, pillowing her face on her hands and watching Nigel through half-closed lids. The dream had been so real, the shock of it was still pumping through her system. She didn't want to close her eyes all the way. What if the dream came to her again?

She blamed the dream on the apparition of the night before. Its warnings and the images of Karolyne's slaughtered family had been running around in Sydney's brain all day. Even so, she promised herself to keep an extra sharp eye on Nigel for the days to come. Being cautious never hurt. With this thought, she finally let her eyes drift closed and let the image of her best friend watching over her lull her to sleep.

XXX

The next five days passed uneventfully. The quiet was starting to grate on Sydney's nerves. Even reaching another small town offered no excitement--or bath, she was disappointed to discover.

She had managed to remain civil to both Yorn and Nigel, which was no mean feat. Nigel seemed to recognize her mood and stayed clear of her. Yorn, on the other hand, seemed to delight in baiting her. It was hard to ignore him when all she wanted to do was smack him upside the head.

As they rode up to the second to the last town on their route, Yorn warned them what to expect. They had entered lawless territory, and the denizens reflected that. The three of them would be best served to get a room together because there was safety in numbers. Sydney's bad mood deepened.

Her first impression of the inn when they entered was that it was both dirty and dingy. The thought of sleeping there made her skin crawl. She had slept in worse places, as she had once told Yorn, but that didn't mean she liked it. Despite his job, Nigel had always hated getting dirty, and his thoughts about the place showed plainly on his honest face.

"Keep your bags close," Yorn hissed as they made their way through a crowd of unsavory looking characters.

Sydney didn't have to be told. She held her bag in a death grip and watched Nigel's in front of her as well. She didn't like the feel of this place. It was of the type that set your teeth on edge the moment you walked in.

As they approached the bar, Sydney noticed the innkeeper was a small, rat-faced man, with eyes as hard and cold as a glacier. He rubbed his hands on a dirty apron as they approached and smiled ferally.

"Well, hello, Yorn. It's nice to see you again."

Yorn scowled. "We need a room for the night. A little less flea-infested this time."

Nigel flinched at his words. Sydney didn't feel so optimistic herself. It would probably take days to wash off the grime of this place.

"201 is free," he said, exchanging key for money. "Would you like someone to carry your bags?"

"No, thank you." This was Sydney. No other hand but hers was going to touch her pack for the remainder of their journey.

The innkeeper noticed her for the first time, and his smile grew wider. "We don't get many women in here." He eyed her in a way that made her nauseous. "It's always...a treat. In fact," This time he eyed Nigel, "we don't get many boys as pretty as you in here either. Let me know if the two of you want to make some money on the side."

"Wha...?" Then Nigel saw the look Sydney was shooting him, and his face flamed. Subtlely, he moved a tad closer to her, and his eyes peered around the room.

"We don't need any...extracurricular activities, thanks," Sydney said, glaring at the innkeeper.

"Let me know if you change your mind. You could get a handsome price for you as a pair."

"We just want some grub and some sleep, Antone...and maybe a little ale. Send Ji over with the special," Yorn growled.

"Am I going to want to know what the special is?" Sydney asked as they headed towards a free table.

"Probably not. Try not to taste it. It helps if you wash it down with the piss they call ale here."

"Sounds great," Nigel muttered.

"Just don't make eye contact, little guy, and you should be all right."

Yorn's condescending tone grated on Sydney's last nerve, but Nigel didn't even seem to notice. He just put his head down as instructed and moved even closer to Sydney.

They found a table near the far wall where their closest neighbors were a table of extra rowdies who were extra drunk and owned lots of hair but almost no teeth and a table containing a small, shifty looking man nursing an ale. Sydney sat on one side of their table and Yorn on the other. They put Nigel in the middle, with his back to the wall. He had his pack clutched tightly in his arms and was looking around with wide eyes.

"Relax, Nigel," Yorn ordered.

Nigel started slightly at his words but made a visible effort to unclench. Sydney couldn't blame him for being tense. She was tense herself. Her fingers itched to reach down into her boot and grab her knife.

It wasn't long before a very cranky looking rotund woman made her way to their table. She had two trays in her hands. One had three bowls of something brownish that Sydney guessed was their meal, and the other held a large pitcher and three grubby mugs. She stomped up to their table and banged her burdens down one dish at a time.

Without a word, the woman held out her hand. Yorn placed a couple of coins in it, so she grunted and stomped away.

"Charming," Nigel commented, but not very loudly.

Sydney gave him a crooked smile before staring forlornly into the brown sludge in front of her. After contemplating it several moments, she glanced at Nigel. "You first."

He made a face but gamely picked up the crude instrument that she assumed was a spoon. Yorn just snorted at the two of them and dunked his own spoon into the mess. Sydney and Nigel watched him closely, alert to any signs that he might keel over. The guide slurped the stuff off of his spoon and grabbed his mug. When he showed no sign of dropping dead in his slop, Sydney nudged Nigel. Her assistant closed his eyes and tentatively took his own bite.

Sydney almost laughed out loud at the expression that crossed his face, but forced it down--much as he had the soup. He also grabbed for his mug, which Yorn filled wordlessly. Nigel gulped the contents and started coughing. Sydney reached out and pounded him on the back.

"Is it that bad?"

"Worse." His voice was harsh from coughing, and his eyes were watering.

Sydney eyed her own bowl and considered not eating. Practicality won out, though, and she bravely grabbed her spoon. Nigel's face was still twisted, which wasn't very encouraging.

"It's better to eat it quickly," Yorn advised. His bowl was almost gone. Nigel, in contrast, hesitated to take his second bite.

Sydney sighed, then took a gulp. A taste like rotten eggs, old gym socks, and gasoline agressively burned across her tongue and rolled her stomach. She had been expecting bad, but even liver coated with cockroaches and cat litter would have tasted better. If it weren't for the fact that they had eaten almost nothing that day, she would have followed her mouth's impulse to spit it out. Instead, she forced it down past the lump in her throat. She managed not to gag, and even refrained from taking a gulp of ale. It wasn't easy.

"Sydney?" Nigel asked.

"It's nourishment, Nigel. Eat up." Though it was the last thing she wanted to do, Sydney made herself take another bite. She blinked her eyes rapidly to dispel the water that quickly gathered there and fought a viscious battle with her stomach.

It was the longest meal of her life. Even imagining her favorite foods didn't help. The urge to gag was almost unbearable, but eventually she had consumed everything in her bowl. She was proud to see that Nigel had done the same. Let Yorn think he was a wimp now!

Sydney had chosen not to drown the taste of her sludge in ale, but between the two of them Yorn and Nigel had drunk almost the whole pitcher. Sydney didn't know about Yorn, but Nigel never could hold his liquor. His eyes were bright and glittering as he put down his spoon.

"Yorn," Sydney said lowly, "I think it's time we went to our room."

Yorn looked at Nigel's flushed face and nodded, helping the smaller man to his feet.

"Where are we going?" Nigel asked. "And why is the room spinning? Is Rayzi sending us home, Sydney?"

Fondly, Sydney took Nigel's arm. "Oh, Nigel."

"Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?"

"We're just going for a little nap. You'll be fine in the morning."

"Not mad?"

"No, not mad." Sydney couldn't blame him for drowning that awful taste of slop away with ale. She just wished he hadn't had quite so much.

"Good." He put his head on her shoulder. "I don't like it when you're mad at me, Syd."

She patted him absently, her attention on the room around them. Her arm went around him to steady him and to grab onto his pack. She knew he couldn't possibly have a strong enough grip in his condition.

"You smell nice," he mumbled. Since she'd been bathing in streams instead of having a nice long bath for the past several days, she decided that intoxication was making him delusional.

"Come on, Nigel. Up to bed."

He tried to comply, stumbling into a nearby table and bumping into one of the men seated there.

"So sorry. I do apologize," Nigel mumbled.

The man turned and regarded Nigel with fishy eyes. He was a large man, and bald, with a scar running from eyebrow to chin on his right side. He also didn't look like he'd ever had a sense of humour. Slowly, he put his mug down and got to his feet. He towered over Sydney and Nigel. He even towered over Yorn. Nigel blinked at him blearily.

Sydney immediately forgot about protecting their bags. Protecting Nigel seemed like more of a priority at the moment. Yorn, who was slightly ahead, on the other side of the mountain of a man, turned and Sydney saw the exasperation in his eyes.

Sydney hauled out her sweetest, most innocent smile. "My husband is so clumsy. He's not himself after a pitcher of ale."

The man seemed to consider this for a moment. Sydney held her breath, loosening her hold on Nigel in case she needed both of her hands. It was shown to be a good idea a moment later when the big man sneered and reached for Nigel. He pulled him out of Sydney's grasp and dangled him above the floor.

"Syd?" Nigel sounded like a scared little boy.

With a sigh, Sydney made a show of dropping both bags to the floor. She eyed up Nigel's captor, trying to decide where to strike first.

One of the man's companions shouted, "Don't hurt him too bad, Rore. He might be some fun later on tonight."

Sydney curled her lip at the man before turning her attention back to Rore and Nigel. All hints of a sweet, devoted wife were gone--they hadn't felt right on her anyway.

"Just put Nigel down," she said calmly, "and you won't have to get hurt."

This seemed to amuse Rore. At least now Sydney knew something could. "I don't think so."

"Fine." The area was too close for a good head kick, so Sydney decided to go with simplicity. Hauling back, she lashed forward, her fist whizzing by Nigel's head. It struck the large man with a loud whack. He shook his head like an animal, but otherwise her punch seemed to have no effect.

"Lady's got teeth," he said, dropping Nigel.

Before he could reach for Sydney, she lashed out two more times, giving him quick blows to the face. Now that Nigel was sprawled on the floor, she had a little more room, so she kneed Rore in the gut. He gasped and doubled over. Pleased she'd found a weakness, Sydney punched him in the face again, wheeling him back. He staggered a little but didn't fall. Once more, he shook his head, rage coming to his features.

"What are you, a tree?" Sydney asked, shoving her body into his. He stumbled backwards, the table behind him making him totter. He fell, but grabbed Sydney, and the two of them went through the table with a crash. Wood and glass went everywhere, and Sydney felt ale splash over her face, neck, and arms.

There was a roar around them as the room suddenly exploded into happy violence. Out of the corner of her eye, Sydney saw Nigel take their bags and crawl under a table. Relieved he was safe, Sydney put all of her attention into grappling with the giant under her.

He tried to push her away, but Sydney wouldn't let him. She clung on with everything she had, taking every opportunity she could to bash his head into the floor. It took several tries, but she finally managed to knock him out.

She turned and caught Nigel's eye, giving a sharp flick of her head. Her drunken assistant shuffled to her on his hands and knees.

"Come on," she said.

Sydney looked around to see Yorn ducking a punch. He caught her eye and indicated they should go upstairs . Avoiding the melee wasn't easy, especially with Nigel's condition, but they eventually made their way to the stairs. Yorn was on his feet, but Sydney and Nigel weaved through the crowd on their hands and knees.

At the stairs, Sydney rose and helped Nigel to his feet. He swayed but managed to keep them. The three of them climbed the stairs slowly. Sydney kept a firm grip on Nigel the whole time. He had started singing, softly and just slightly off key.

"This is our room here," Yorn said, opening the door. "In this inn, outside rules apply. Since Nigel's a little...inconvenienced, we'll have to divide by two. I'll take first watch. I'll wake you in about five hours."

Sydney accepted this. She wouldn't want to sleep in this place unguarded. Tiredly, she helped Nigel into bed and curled up beside him. She ignored the fact that he threw one arm loosely over her.

"Go to sleep, Nigel."

He mumbled something that sounded like, "Okay, good night", though she couldn't be sure, before starting to emit low, soft snores. Sydney didn't think she'd ever be able to sleep, not with all the cutthroats downstairs. That was actually her last thought before sleep claimed her.

XXX

Sydney woke up in the darkness with Nigel's arm still around her. He was cuddled closer than he had been, with his face buried in her shoulder.

Something had awakened her, and it wasn't Yorn for her turn at watch. She could see him in the chair watching the door with his sword across his knees. His body was tense, as if he had sensed the same thing she had. Sydney listened to the silence, straining for sound.

And then their doorknob rattled. It wasn't very loud, but in the absence of sound, it was like a shout. Yorn sat up straighter, and Sydney reached over the side of the bed for her knife. She had a strange feeling of deja vu, but this time she was sure her opposition would not be a spectre.

At her movement, Nigel murmured in his sleep and tried to pull her closer. Gently, she extricated herself from him and sat up. Yorn glanced her way, and she nodded at him grimly.

Then, the door slowly started to open. Sydney expected to see the man from the brawl downstairs. Instead, it was the shifty-eyed man whose table had been near theirs.

As his eyes met hers, she saw the surprise go over his face. He didn't even see Yorn coming at him from the side. It was a deadly mistake. Before he could even reach for his knife, Yorn's sword was slicing through his side. Sydney winced as he fell lifelessly to the floor.

"Who do you think he was?" she asked.

"I don't know. Slaver, maybe. The whole bar noticed when Antone said how pretty the pair of you were."

"Slavers?"

"Yeah. They're illegal here, but there's a lot of trade over the border." He kicked the body at his feet.

"Well, we'll never know now. You've got to stop killing our enemies before we get answers out of them."

"Sydney, you've got to learn, if you keep people alive, they'll come after you again."

"Listen," She crossed her arms and faced him squarely, "I may be new to this world of yours, but I've been doing what you call adventuring for a long time. My methods may be different than yours, but that doesn't make them any less valid. After all, it was me and Nigel that Rayzi's devinition showed should go after the Staff."

Yorn also crossed his arms and met her glare for glare. "Don't come to me when the next person you spare kills you in your sleep."

She scowled at him, then said, "So, what do we do with him?"

"I'm thinking maybe we should take off. If he's got friends, they'll be looking for him soon."

"What about Nigel?" She glanced at the bed.

"We'll get him out of here somehow."

"All right," Sydney agreed, gathering their things together. "We can't go through the common room."

"You're right. This place stays up all night and sleeps all day. It'll have to be the window."

How were they going to get Nigel out of the window? On his own steam, she hoped.

Sydney went to the bed and knelt. Gently, she shook Nigel's shoulder. "Nigel."

He groaned but didn't wake up. With a sigh, she shook him harder and said more sharply, "Nigel!"

"Syd?" he asked faintly.

"You need to get up, Nigel."

"Wh...?" He blinked his eyes open sleepily. "Is't mornin'?"

"It's time to go."

"Okay." He yawned, still more asleep than awake.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fuzzy."

"You drank a little too much."

Finally, he stirred and rubbed his eyes. "That's what the taste in my mouth is."

"It's either that or that brown slop they fed us for supper. Are you getting up?"

"Yeah. Getting up."

Nigel was always a little slow waking up, especially when he'd been drinking. Now, he slowly sat up, still rubbing his face. His eyes took in the body on the floor and widened.

"We had some company," Sydney explained before he could ask.

"And we may have more shortly if we don't go. Now," Yorn said urgently.

This cut through Nigel's foggy brain, and he jumped to his feet. He stumbled a little, but, with Sydney's help, remained upright. She shoved his pack in his hands and guided him to the window.

"The window?" he asked faintly.

"The window," she confirmed firmly.

"Are we ready?" This was Yorn, who reached the window first.

"Go," Sydney said impatiently.

Without any more encouragement, he ducked through the window. Sydney heard a soft thump as he hit the ground.

"Go," she told Nigel next.

"What if I break my neck?"

"You'll be fine. He'll catch you." At least she hoped he would. "Do you trust me, Nigel?"

"Yes," he said immediately. He never hesitated when she asked him this question.

"Good. You can do this. You've done it before."

Nigel sighed, but stopped arguing as he threw his bag out the window.

"Ow!" Sydney heard Yorn hiss from outside.

Nigel stuck his head out the window. "Sorry."

Sydney had an urge to laugh as she pictured the cocky guide being thumped squarely on the head.

Her friend wriggled clumsily out of the window until he was hanging by his hands. He hung there for a few seconds, his knuckles turning white with the strength of his grip.

"Come on, little guy," Yorn said, "You can do it."

For the first time showing annoyance at Yorn's condescension, Nigel growled softly, "I am not a little guy," before letting go.

Sydney had a sudden irrational fear that Nigel really would break his neck. She hurried over to the window and stuck out her head.

"Nigel?" There was silence. "Nigel?"

"I'm all right, Sydney. Come on down."

Sydney let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Bad guys she could save him from, but a fall--much like a land mine--she was helpless against.

"Look out below," she said, tossing out her own bag. Unlike Nigel, she was careful not to hit the two waiting.

She turned and gracefully lowered herself out of the window just as the doorknob started to rattle again. With a curse, she hurriedly dangled and then let go, landing with a thump beside Nigel.

"They're coming," she hissed, grabbing the men, one with each hand.

Together, the three of them rushed to where they left the horses. They mounted, Nigel a little more awkwardly even than usual, and rode away from the inn.

They hadn't gone far when Yorn stopped and instructed them to dismount. He led them, leading their horses, into the woods. The trees had seemed thick and impassable, but Yorn must have known a trail because they slipped inside.

"You okay?" Sydney whispered to Nigel.

He glanced at her, his face a mere shadow in the darkness under the trees. "Sure."

He didn't really sound sure, so she reached out and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. She saw the glint of his teeth as he smiled in response.

It was a few minutes later when the sound of horses went rushing by on the road. The friends of the man Yorn had killed were definitely after them.

"Yorn," Sydney hissed.

"We're all right," he whispered back. "I doubt a handful of people know of this path."

"I hope you're right." She kept the hand not on her horse's bridle on her sword just in case.

"If we keep going this way, we can bypass the last town altogether. That way, we won't run into our friends if they're up ahead waiting for us. The only thing is that we may have to ditch the horses. I know how much Nigel was starting to enjoy his."

Nigel snorted, and Sydney shook her head. "Ditch them where?"

"I have a friend who lives back here. She likes to help animals and people who wander into the magic infested remains of the Mage Wars. She'd be happy to care for them while we're gone."

"You're sure?"

"I've known Mala a long time."

Sydney heard Nigel curse under his breath.

"Are you all right?"

"I can't see a bloody thing."

He had a point. They hadn't even brought out their light globe, and the moon was having trouble getting through the foliage.

"We should stop for the rest of the night, Yorn. Do you know a place where we can hunker down undetected?"

"There's a fallen tree not far from here that should shelter us and the horses, though I doubt anyone will brave coming in here to search."

"As long as there's room to lie down, I'm game," Nigel said sleepily.

"Your light should be safe, Sydney."

Sydney nodded and took it out, putting it on its dimmest setting. They walked in silence for awhile, the only sound the noise their bodies made passing through the trees.

Even with the light, Sydney could hear Nigel stumbling and knew he was probably feeling lousy from his earlier ale encounter.

"How much further?" she called softly to Yorn.

"Just up ahead here."

"Thank God," she heard Nigel mutter.

Yorn was true to his word, and before they knew it, the three of them were curled up together under the roots of an ancient fallen pine tree. Once more, Sydney thought she'd never get to sleep, and once more she was proven wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

The forest looked just as dense by daylight, and Sydney could barely see the trail Yorn was following. Nigel seemed to be feeling better, though she kept turning to see him standing close enough to her that if he leaned slightly, his body would be softly touching hers. He looked nervously around them, as if he expected something to drop down on their heads from the treetops.

"It's very quiet," he said in a hushed voice.

"It _is_ a forest, Nigel."

"None of the other forests we've been in gave me the creeps like this."

"It's the Wounded Land." Yorn's voice was also low. Though we are days away, the land here feels its power. Things are uneasy--almost expectant. That's why you only find the worst sort of people here. Well, those and those that have no home to go back to...like Mala."

If Nigel had been born in Telurra, would he have ended up here? Sydney wondered. She knew his childhood pain went deep, and that he felt everything had been taken from him by his brother and God. Would he have felt so lost that his body would have craved getting just as lost?

But he wasn't Telurran, and he was looking around him as if this place were evil incarnate. Sydney could also feel the chill, but Nigel had always been the more sensitive of the two.

It was about noon when the forest opened up in front of them to show a small clearing containing a cottage. Compared to Theri's cottage, of course, it was miniscule, but the sight of it was very welcome.

A large brindle dog came around the side of the cottage barking as they approached. Sydney stopped suddenly before noting that the dog's tail was wagging . Yorn dropped to his knees as the dog headed straight for him, seeming to turn herself inside out in her excitement. Sydney saw one of Yorn's rare smiles come to his face.

"Caree."

The dog licked his face enthusiastically, while he patted her and told her what a good and beautiful dog she was.

The door of the cottage opened and a woman of about Sydney's age appeared. Her hair was long and shone chestnut in the sun. Her dress was plain, but it suited her and her surroundings. Proud blue eyes sparkled in a face that was slightly care-worn but no less beautiful for that. She had a simple and homey beauty that would last long after more flashy types had faded.

"Yorn!" she exclaimed, her face breaking into a small smile.

Sydney immediately liked her.

Yorn's face turned serious once more, and he got to his feet. "Good noon, Mala."

She came out to meet them, eyeing Sydney and Nigel. Her expression was friendly and welcoming. "What brings you here? And who are your friends?"

"Sydney Fox," Sydney answered for Yorn and stepped forward, offering her hand. "And this is my...Nigel."

"Nice to meet you, Sydney, Nigel." She shook their hands, her eyes showing she accepted them immediately. "Friends of Yorn's are friends of mine."

"They're clients," Yorn told her. "They want to find Lesha."

"Lesha?" The woman's face turned thoughtful. "That's a dangerous journey, and you may not find it. Are you after the Staff?"

"Yes," Sydney admitted. "How did you know?"

Mala pointed to the browning grass around her cottage and a patch of earth that must have been her garden. "Someone had to come for it sooner or later. This isn't natural."

"Not natural?" This was the first time Sydney had heard that suggestion.

"I don't believe so. The land is crying over what's being forced upon it."

"Forced how? Do you believe that it's some malevolent force?"

Mala shook her head. "More human in nature, I'd guess."

"We've come for a reason," Yorn said, indicating the horses. "We're going the quick way to avoid trouble. Would you care for our horses?"

"Trouble?" A shadow moved over Mala's face. "What kind of trouble?"

Yorn seemed to trust the young woman implicitly because he quickly sketched in for her the events of the night before.

"Slavers?" she asked.

"That's what I think."

"Well, come in and let me feed you. I don't have much, but what I've got has got to be better than the fare at The Devil's Gate." Then she winked at Sydney. "Your Nigel looks like he's going to faint from hunger. I've got a small stable behind the house. You can settle your horses there, and then fill your bellies."

"All right," Sydney replied. "Come on, my Nigel."

He flushed but followed without comment. Yorn stayed behind to talk to Mala. Curiously, Sydney wondered what about.

XXX

It wasn't long before they were all sated and sitting around Mala's table. She had urged the three of them to stay at least one night. Despite the small size of the cottage, they had agreed and were whiling away the afternoon. Sydney's first impression of Mala had held, and the two of them found they had lots to talk about. Mala told Sydney about her life in the forest, and Sydney told Mala about some of her and Nigel's racier adventures. The men remained strangely silent, Yorn leaned back and watching Mala through half-closed eyes and Nigel listening intently but flushing as something he had done brought both women to giggles. Sydney wasn't normally a giggler, but it was rare for her to be able to have a frank and fun conversation with another woman.

The vibe she was getting from the two Telurrans was also an interesting one. There was an undercurrent of longing, and she wondered if they had ever acted on it. They acted nothing if not chaste; they hadn't even touched. That, of course, could have just been for her and Nigel's benefit.

After awhile, Sydney broached a subject near and dear to her heart. "What do you do for a bath around here? I reek of smoke and ale and horse sweat."

"I do have a small tub out back, though you should have mentioned something earlier. It's starting to get a little chilly."

Though Sydney hated the cold, she said, "Right now, given the choice between goosebumps and dirt, I'll take the goosebumps." Then she looked at Nigel. "And you're having a bath too. I don't want to sleep next to something that smells like a horse that fell in a river of alchohol."

"All right, Syd."

"Come on," Mala got to her feet. "I'll show you where the tub is. You'll have to bathe in cold water. Hot water is hard to come by here. We could heat it on the stove, but it would take hours."

Invwardly, Sydney cringed but said, "That's fine. I hope you have lots of soap."

The two of them went outside, leaving the men together at the table, with the dog at their feet. Sydney was a little nervous about leaving Nigel alone with Yorn. She knew how much the smaller man annoyed the larger.

"Have you known Yorn long?" Sydney asked as they went to one side of the house, where there was a big wooden tub and a stone well.

"Almost ten years. I found him hurt in the wounded lands. A beast had attacked him and he was burning with fever."

Sydney went to the well and dropped the bucket. "Has he always been so...um...disagreeable?"

"He can be harsh, but there is more to Yorn. He's a good man. He loves animals, and he loves being in silence so strong you can physically feel it."

Sydney turned from her task and looked Mala directly in the eye. "You love him, don't you?"

Mala smiled a soft, sad smile. "You ask the one thing that he never has."

Though it wasn't really an answer, Sydney knew it was as much of an answer as she was going to get. Not pressing, she took the bucket over and dumped it in the tub. Mala took an extra bucket she had sitting by the tub and helped Sydney.

"Nigel seems nice. Very gentle."

"He is." Once more, Sydney looked at Mala. "You see in him what I see?"

"I see a gentle man who hates violence and loves knowledge. A man with a big hurt and a big fear, but with a certain inner strength and bravery that he doesn't even know exists. And he thinks you are infallible. This weighs on you, I think."

Sydney blinked. This was more of an answer than she had been expecting. "You saw all that in the few hours you've known him?"

"You're not married are you?"

"No."

"But you care deeply for him, and you'd give your life for him." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes."

"Not many people get a chance to share a friendship like the one I see between the two of you. It's to be protected and cherished."

"Mala," Something suddenly became clear to Sydney, and she knew that such things would be possible in this world. Mages and spells and magic itself were much more common than they were in her own. "Are you empathic?"

It would explain Mala's self-imposed seclusion as well as her need to help those in pain or distress.

She gave Sydney the same honesty that Sydney had given her. "Yes."

"And you came here...?" Sydney waved her arm around the clearing.

"Being around a lot of people hurts. I had to get away. My mother brought me here, but she passed away in my thirteenth summer."

"Does Yorn know?"

Mala shrugged. "I don't know. I've never asked him...There, that should be enough water. I'll go get you a towel."

"Thank you."

Sydney watched Mala go around the side of the cabin, then dipped a finger into the water. She grimaced at how cold it was, but began to undress anyway. It would have to be a lot colder for her to prefer remaining grubby. A sudden memory of the first time she and Nigel had shared a room came to her. She had been even grubbier then than now, and when she had gotten back to the room, Nigel had been in the shower. Sydney grinned as she remembered Nigel's reaction to her threat to join him. It was then that she knew he was different from the rest, and that he suited her just fine. They had come a long way in the two and a half years since then, but Sydney wouldn't trade them for anything.

_"Sydney, I'm dead...I'm dead."_

The memory ripped through her, tearing the smile from her face. It was still painful and raw, a wound not quite healed. That moment she would trade. It had been just three weeks before, and she had never been so scared in all of her life. All the other times Nigel had been in danger, Sydney had some measure of control, but how could you reason with a land mine?

Pushing the memory away, Sydney hurriedly took off the rest of her clothes. The cold was almost a welcome distraction as she climbed into the tub, and she had already ducked her head under to numb her thoughts by the time Mala had returned with the towel.

XXX

Mala was generous enough to give Nigel and Sydney her bed while she and Yorn slept in the other room on the floor. As a consequence, Sydney woke up feeling more refreshed and rested than she had in ages. Nigel looked a lot better too. He was smiling and even trying to joke around with Yorn despite the guide's lack of a sense of humour. Sydney watched the two closely, just to make sure Nigel didn't go too far.

Even Yorn seemed to be in a good mood and didn't seem as eager to pull out as usual. This, Sydney was sure, was because he was reluctant to leave Mala's company. Nigel, of course, seemed oblivious to the chemistry between Yorn and Mala. He couldn't even tell when women were attracted to _him_. He always seemed so surprised when they made their move. Sydney had long before ceased to be surprised when about ninety per cent of the women they met--and even ten per cent of the men--developed an immediate attraction to Nigel. Nigel's innocence was charming, however, and she hoped he never lost it.

Eventually, they found themselves slipping through the trees away from Mala's house. It felt strange to be on foot and so close to one another after so long on the horses. Sydney did like having her bag over her arm and her crossbow within reach again. That was the way she always hunted, and it felt right.

The woods surrounding Mala's house were very dense, but Yorn seemed to be following some internal map. He moved ahead confidently, with Nigel behind him and Sydney in the rear.

Nigel stumbled along, occasionally grabbing a trunk for balance. Sydney often had to duck one of his branches, when he seemed to forget she was behind him. She scowled as he did it for what seemed like the fiftieth time that morning.

"Watch it, Nigel," she growled.

He turned, looking contrite. "Sorry, Syd."

"Just be careful. You're going to poke my eye out."

"It's these branches. They keep grabbing me. Yorn, are we going to stop for lunch any time soon?"

Yorn stopped quite aways ahead of them and looked at Sydney. "Sydney?"

"We should stop for awhile."

"All right." He immediately dropped with his back to a tree.

Nigel also dropped gratefully to the ground, right in Sydney's path. She had no choce but to sit down beside him.

"Tired?" she asked.

Nigel nodded, opening his pack and taking out the cheese Mala had given him.

"We've got a long walk ahead of us."

"I know. I can make it. I have to. You aren't going on and leaving me in this God forsaken place."

Sydney had been digging in her own pack for something to eat, but froze at his words. She stared at him silently for a few seconds before choking out, "I would never leave you behind."

Nigel smiled reassuringly, reaching out to pat her arm very gently. "I was just kidding, Sydney. I know you'd never leave me." Then he lowered his voice. "I'm not so sure about him, though. I don't think he likes me much."

Sydney scowled, continuing her motion. "Tough. We're a team. If I go, you go with me."

He took a bite of his cheese and looked down, not meeting her eyes. "But sometimes you think it would be easier without me."

This time, Sydney dropped her pack altogether. "What?" He didn't say anything, so she demanded, "Nigel?"

He scuffed the dirt under his foot, making a hole with his heel. "I know I can be a bit of a...well, a bit of a screw up."

Sydney had no idea he felt this way. After all, they had made the transition to equals long before. Sydney was smart and knowledgeable, but Nigel was often the real brains of their team, while she was the muscle. That was the way it worked. It was as she had told Yorn; Nigel had saved her as many times as she had saved him, his aversion to violence notwithstanding. She accepted the fact that he wasn't as coordinated or as flexible as she was, but that didn't make him a screw up. He had to know how valuable he was to her. He had to.

"Nigel," she said through gritted teeth, suddenly angry with herself and not knowing why, "I don't want to ever hear you say that again. You are not a screw up...and if I didn't want you on hunts with me, I would have told you so long ago."

He finally looked at her, his light eyes searching her dark ones. She defied him to find a lie there. Slowly, a soft smile came to his face, the one that Sydney liked so much. Sydney smiled back and bumped his shoulder softly with her own.

"Now, eat your dinner. I'm sure Yorn will want to head back out in a cruelly short period of time."

"Are you two done whispering over there?" Yorn asked, getting to his feet while taking a swig from the container of water Mala had given him.

Sydney raised an eyebrow at him. "You're ready to go already?"

"Don't worry. I'll give you an hour. I just need to heed nature's call."

Nigel sighed in relief. "I was worried there for a minute." Then his eyes started twinkling, and Sydney knew he was going to say something he thought was remarkably clever. She waited for it and wasn't disappointed. "Are you sure you don't want to help him?"

"Nigel!"

"I know I was able to go so much better with your help."

Sydney was about to give Nigel a playful swat when a loud yell froze them both.

"That was Yorn!" Nigel said, jumping to his feet.

She hauled her knife from her boot and pointed. "He went that way."

With Nigel so close behind her that she could feel his breath on her neck, Sydney slipped through the trees. She went very cautiously, not knowing what to expect. They had heard no more from Yorn after that last strangled yell. Sydney did not dare to call out to him for fear of giving away her location to potential enemies.

She was so concentrated on looking ahead, that she didn't see the chasm that appeared at her feet. If Nigel hadn't caught her, she would have ended up tumbling inside. His arms had gone around her quickly, pulling her back and towards him.

"Thanks, Nigel," she gasped, slightly stunned.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, I think so." She peered down into the hole to see that it was about nine feet deep. She also saw a familiar but unconscious form lying at the bottom of it. "Yorn."

Nigel peered over her shoulder. "Is he alive?"

"I don't know. Go get the rope."

As Nigel hurried off in search of rope, Sydney knelt at the edge of the hole to study Yorn. It was strange. Up until that moment, she had thought she didn't like their taciturn guide. It was surprising to discover that she actually did. Maybe it was seeing how he reacted to Mala, she didn't know. Whatever it was had Sydney praying he was alive.

Nigel was back faster than Sydney had expected, both of their packs in his hands. Reaching Sydney, he dropped to his knees and started digging through his.

"Here, Syd. We used quite a bit of it for the bandits, but what I saved should almost reach the bottom of the hole."

"Good. Do you think you'll be able to haul Yorn up with it?"

He nodded. "I think so."

With this assurance, Sydney dropped into the hole. Yorn groaned as she landed beside him, filling her with relief.

"Yorn?"

"Sydney?" His voice was weak and groggy.

"You fell."

"Hole...wasn't here before...hunters..."

She brushed blond curls out of his eyes, studying his face and head for signs of serious injury. There was no blood, but that didn't mean there wasn't a concussion.

"We're going to get you out of here. Can you stand?"

"Leg's broken..."

Sydney frowned. "Which one?"

"Left."

Sydney examined the leg and winced as she saw a buldge under his skin where there definitely should not be one. The leg was already swelling and changing to an ugly color. Getting Nigel to throw down her own bag, Sydney managed to use some wood and two shirts to stabilize the leg enough to get Yorn out of the hole. She wasn't sure what they would do then.

Once she had protected the leg as much as she could, Sydney tied the rope around Yorn's waist. Even though she tried to be gentle, he cried out in pain as she shifted him.

"This is going to get worse before it gets better," she told him, lifting him into a sitting position, "but you'll still be in one piece at the end."

Using her body as a prop, Sydney pulled Yorn to his good leg. Careful not to jostle him too badly, she threw the end of the rope up to Nigel.

"Do you still think you can pull him up if I give him a boost?"

"I'll try."

It took a lot of grunting and groaning, not to mention straining and cursing, but eventually, with Sydney's pushing, Nigel was able to slowly pull Yorn up and over the edge of the hole. As Nigel grabbed Yorn under the arms and pulled him the rest of the way out, Sydney thought she might faint with relief and fatigue. Wearily, she climbed up the side, sliding a little in the crumbling dirt, and hauled herself up to rest a moment on the ground beside Nigel and Yorn. The guide seemed no worse fo his ride up the rope. In fact, he was semi-conscious and mumbling to himself. Sydney tried to make him comfortable, then gave Nigel a helpless look.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked, echoing her thoughts.

"We're going to have to bring him back to Mala's. What else can we do? We can't bring him with us like this."

"How will we find Lesha?"

"I'm hoping he'll be able to draw us a map. He has to, if we have any hope of finding the Staff."

Nigel nodded in agreement. "Do you remember how to get back?"

Fortunately, Sydney had an excellent sense of direction. "Yes," she said, getting up and dusting off her pants.

XXX

Going back to Mala's took a lot longer than travelling away, and it was after dark when Sydney finally saw lights twinkling through the trees.

"Nigel!"

Sydney stopped and set down their homemade stretcher. She rubbed her eyes, hardly believing what they were telling her.

"What is it?"

"Do you see the lights?"

There was a pause, then an excited, "Yes!"

Encouraged, the two of them hurried as fast as they could with Yorn's awkward form between them. They pushed through the trees and into the clearing. The sight of the small cabin nestled in the trees with candlelight in its windows and smoke coming from its chimney was very welcome.

They hadn't even reached the cabin when the door flew open and Mala rushed outside, her chestnut hair in disarray and her eyes wide with concern.

"What happened?"

"He fell into a trap," Sydney told her quickly. "His most serious injury is a broken leg, but the fall stunned him, and he's in a lot of pain."

Mala nodded and drew them all towards the house. "Bring him to the bedroom. We can make him more comfortable."

Sydney and Nigel did as she asked, then left her alone with the guide. She was a healer, and Sydney knew Yorn was in good hands. Tiredly, the two of them settled at the wooden table, just resting limbs that ached from their heavy burden.

"Sydney," Nigel asked eventually, "do you think we'll be able to make it without him?"

"Sure," Sydney assured him, though she felt anything but positive. "How many times has it been just me and you? Just because we're in a strange world doesn't mean that we can't do it. We just need to work together...and a map from Yorn."

"Do you think he'll be able to give us one?"

"Pretty sure. The lump on his head didn't seem like a serious one. After some of the pain goes from his leg, and he sleeps off the fall, he should be lucid. We'll have to see what Mala has to say."

"I'm just glad he's going to be okay."

"Yeah, me too."

Sydney had a sudden flashback of her threatening to break Yorn's legs. She frowned as she thought of the irony. She also wondered if Yorn would find it quite so ironic.

"What are you thinking, Sydney?"

"Nothing important," she replied, unable to stop a yawn, which she quickly covered.

"It is getting late," Nigel answered her yawn rather than her words.

He got up and started unrolling his bedroll. Sydney watched him a moment before getting up to do the same. The two of them were already inside by the time Mala came out to tell them Yorn was resting comfortably.

She raised her eyebrows asking, "Aren't the two of you hungry?"

"I'm too tired to eat." Sydney had been right on the cusp between being asleep and being awake when Mala entered. "Is Yorn going to be okay?"

"Besides the broken leg, he should be back to his old loveable self in the morning."

"That's goo..." Sydney's comment was cut off by the loud sound of Nigel's stomach growling.

The Englishman clapped a hand to his stomach and gasped, "Excuse me."

Mala laughed softly. "It sounds like one of you could eat."

"Nigel can always eat. I've only seen him refuse food once."

_Sydney, I'm dead...I'm dead._ The words went through her mind and her hand clenched under the blanket. Once more she saw him face down in front of her, the mine under his chest. She felt the fear, the helplessness. She knew she couldn't save him. If not for Masters, she would have lost the best friend she ever had. Violently, she pushed the memory away, keeping her turmoil from her face.

Mala's eyes widened, and she glanced at Sydney, then quickly away. "Come on, Nigel. We'll find something to quiet your belly."

When Nigel got up, so did Sydney. She just said, "I think I'll take this opportunity to visit the building out back."

She hadn't even reached the outhouse when Mala called her name from the door. Sydney stopped and let the chestnut-haired woman catch up to her.

"What was that about?" Mala asked quietly.

Sydney turned, barely able to see her eyes in the darkness. "What?"

"You know what."

Sydney sighed and dropped to sit on the ground. Mala settled beside her, waiting patiently.

"A few weeks ago, I almost lost Nigel. In our line of work, that's nothing new, but this was different." Sydney brought one knee up and propped her arm on it.

"How was it different?"

"Nigel attracts trouble, but usually it's nasty men or women with gu...with big and nasty weapons, or ones that want to beat him to a pulp. No problem. I deal with those. At times I'm afraid I'll be too late, but I never believe I will be."

"And this time?"

"Your Wounded Lands, Yorn says there are remnants of the Mage Wars there. Unexpected, brainless things that lie in wait for the day someone sets them off."

Sydney saw a slight movement that indicated Mala nodded her head.

"This was like that. For this weapon to work, you have to put weight on it and then take it off. Nigel fell on it. He thought he was dead." Sydney wiped a hand over a face sweating despite the chill night air. "He called to me. I...My heart almost stopped beating when I heard him tell me he was dead." Sydney found she was shaking. It was the first time since the incident that she had really allowed herself to feel the horror and terror.

Mala threw a light arm around her shoulder. "Go on."

"That cold piece of metal, we call it a mine, had Nigel's life in its hands. It was unfeeling and inanimate--completely indiscriminate. I couldn't reason with it. I couldn't fight it. Hell, I didn't even know how to disarm it. If we would have been alone, Nigel would have died. I've never felt so powerless or so helpless. I never want to feel that powerless again. It keeps coming back to me, and I don't know what to do about it."

"But Nigel's not dead." Mala gave Sydney's shoulder a squeeze. "You have him with you. You don't seem the type to be haunted by what might have been."

"I'm not. That's what scares me."

"Does Nigel know you feel this way?"

Sydney was horrified at the thought. "God, no! And don't say I should tell him. If you believed in complete honesty of emotion, you would have told Yorn how you feel years ago."

"Are you afraid Nigel will think less of you if you admit that you are human?"

"He depends on me not to be frightened or to get freaked out. He needs it."

"I think Nigel is stronger than you give him credit for."

Sydney shrugged. "I can do this for him, and I will."

"Whatever you think is best," Mala soothed, no doubt sensing Sydney's bristling.

Sydney sighed again, letting her moment of irritation go. "Sometimes..." She paused, then continued, hardly believing what she was admitting, "Sometimes, I am so glad he is with me, so proud of what he had become, and so awed with his abilities that I just want to hug him and tell him so...and other times..."

"Other times?" Mala prodded.

"Other times I want to send him away, to lie and tell him I don't need him just to keep him safe. I know this would be unfair to him, and I know it would hurt him. But he's my best friend, and it would kill me to lose him."

"But it would kill you even more to leave him behind?"

"Yes."

"And there's something else."

Sydney didn't know why, but she'd felt closer to this woman she'd only known for two days than she had to anyone but Nigel for years. Something about her made Sydney want to tell her things she had never shared with anyone.

"I recently found out that Nigel thinks I don't value him. I tried to tell him I do, but words don't...well, they don't always come easily to me. Not when it comes to those kind of things. I didn't know he felt like he wasn't as important to our team as I am, though I should have. I'm worried that he's picking up my vibes on those times I'm tempted to leave him home to protect him. If he is, I don't know how to fix it. I don't want to hurt him."

"Well," Mala said after a thoughtful pause. "Sometimes people just need to hear the words. Everyone needs to know they are valued, and Nigel...well, Nigel seems to fight a constant battle with self-doubt."

"His brother is a bully. Everything Nigel does, Preston has to do better just to prove to Nigel that he's nothing. The thing is, I've met Preston, and I'm not too impressed with him. He's a silly, petty man with the attitude of a spoiled child. Nigel is a hundred times better man than Preston, but he can't see it because he still feels like the little boy who can't get anything right." Sydney wasn't aware of just how angry she was at Preston until that moment. It came as a slight surprise.

"That's even more reason for you to remind Nigel how much you need him."

"I suppose."

"Can anyone tell me," a voice floated to them from the house, "why women always travel to the facilities in pairs, even when the facilities are just an old outhouse?"

The solemn air of the evening shattered, and Sydney laughed and shook her head. "Oh, Nigel."

"You can't be done eating already," Mala called back. "Did you stop to chew?"

"I got lonely. What are you two doing out here?"

"That's what Caree's for," Mala teased, getting to her feet.

"You know," Sydney said, also getting to her feet. "I think I will take some of that food after all."

XXX

Mala was right about Yorn, and by the time Sydney woke up, he was already awake and making his presence felt. He was in a foul mood because of his leg, but he did consent to drawing Sydney and Nigel a map. He also went on to explain the map, seriously looking into Sydney's eyes to make sure she was absorbing everything. Nigel was also listening, and he had an even better memory than she did.

After they were pretty sure they knew where they were going, Mala packed them up enough food for about three days. After that, they would have to fend for themselves. Nigel grimaced at this, but Sydney just nodded and accepted the hunting bow Mala offered her.

When Sydney and Nigel went to say good-bye to Yorn, he just scowled and turned away. They shared a look and quietly left the guide to himself. Mala followed the the relic hunters outside to see them off, and Sydney could see an apology in her eyes.

"Don't mind Yorn," Mala said. "He just doesn't want you two roaming through the Wounded Lands by yourselves."

Sydney looked at her. "Is he afraid that we won't make it...or that we will?"

Mala's blue eyes narrowed. "You know that's not fair to him."

After a moment, Sydney nodded. "I know. He's a lot like me, I think. It would be killing me to know someone was going to find a relic without me because of something as stupid as a broken leg."

"I've been there," Nigel spoke up. "It wasn't that bad."

Sydney smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. "And you still managed to save the day."

He smiled back. "Thank God for shovels."

At Mala's curious look, Sydney waved her hand in an 'it's not important' gesture.

"We want to thank you, Mala, for all you've done for us."

"You're good people, and you're on a quest to save the land. How could I not?"

"I'm still grateful." Sydney gave the other woman a quick hug. "I'm glad I met you. I'll try to remember what you said."

"I'm glad I got to meet you as well."

"Syd." Nigel's voice rose with a slight note of panic.

Puzzled, Sydney turned to see four people melt out of the forest. Three of them were men, and the last was a woman. They all had cold faces and swords drawn.

"Bouran!" Mala exclaimed, "What's going on?"

"This isn't your affair, Mala. Just give us the two adventurers and stay out of it."

"What do you mean, it doesn't concern me? This was still my house the last time I looked."

"We'll leave it unmolested as long as you don't interfere with us."

"What do you want with us?" Sydney asked, dropping her bags and getting reading to reach for the sword at her hip.

An older man spoke up. His brown eyes were as cold as ice as he said, "The Staff."

Sydney had a sudden flashback to the dream she'd had several nights before and goosepimples immediately covered her arms. Instinctively, she stepped in front of Nigel. "We don't have the Staff."

"And we're here to make sure you never find it."

"Why?" Sydney jutted out her chin. "What's it to you if we retrieve the Staff?"

"Our employers wouldn't like it."

"You!" Mala exclaimed. "You're causing the drought. Bouran, how could you?"

The man shrugged. "You know me, Mala. Anything for coin. Besides, I'm not causing the drought. Do I have any magic?"

"Guilt by association," Mala spit out.

"Enough!" The gray-haired man barked. "Words are meaningless. We've come for the adventurers, and that's what matters. Get them."

With a growl, Sydney finished her motion and pulled her sword free of its sheath. Beside her, Mala hauled a knife out from somewhere inside her dress. Nigel just backed further away.

"Please," Mala whispered. "Don't kill them unless you have to."

Sydney nodded in understanding. She didn't like killing unless it was a last resort, and she wasn't empathic.

The four circled, looking confident. They also held their swords like they meant business. Sydney hoped Nigel would be able to stay out of the way. Unarmed and as unlucky as he was, he would make an easy target.

"Mala, be reasonable," the man named as Bouran said. "Go into the house. We don't want to hurt you."

"I'm not going to let you murder people on my doorstep. These two are my friends, and if you're going to kill them, you'll have to kill me too. You were a good man once, what changed you?"

The man didn't answer, he just joined his companions in circling around Sydney, Nigel, and Mala.

"Don't worry, Mala," Sydney said, "There are only four of them. We can take them."

The empath looked like she doubted as she gripped her knife more tightly. Sydney wondered if she knew how to fight with it. If not, Sydney would have to fight the four adversaries and at the same time keep her body between them and both Mala and Nigel.

As the nearest man reached her, Sydney lashed out, not with her sword, but with her foot. It came up and crunched heavily against the side of the man's head. He had not expected it and fell to the ground, stunned. She completed the motion and met the older man's sword with a clang. He snarled at her, and she snarled back.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sydney saw Mala and Bouran eyeing each other over their blades, but neither attacked. She couldn't see Nigel or the woman, but she hoped Nigel could avoid trouble long enough for Sydney to deal with the gray-haired man.

Her opponent lashed at her again, and once more Sydney caught his attack. Their swords clashed several more times before Sydney made a fake lunge. When the man went to meet it, she ducked sideways and kicked out at him as she had his partner. When her foot connected with his head, he staggered but didn't fall. Sydney followed up by punching him in the face, twice in quick succession. He crumpled, and she kicked the sword from his hand.

Whirling, she saw Nigel flailing a stick at the lone woman attacker. It was a good sized stick, but it wasn't going to protect Nigel for long.

With a yell, Sydney rushed towards them. The woman heard her and turned. When she did, Nigel whacked her over the head with his stick. She staggered, and he whacked her again. She collapsed, unconscious.

Sydney smiled grimly. "Good job, Nigel."

He beamed at her praise. "Thanks."

The two of them turned to see Mala and Bouran still staring at each other. Sydney watched them carefully. The look on Mala's face was challenging Bouran to slay her.

"Mala?"

"He won't kill me," Mala said. "He can't kill me...Bouran is Yorn's brother."

"What?" Sydney shared an incredulous look with Nigel before snapping her sword back into the sheath and slowly making her way over to the two facing off.

Bouran whirled as she got close, lunging for her. Sydney twisted and flipped back avoiding the nasty blade. She came up in a crouch, eyeing the man who now had his whole attention on her.

"I've been paid to make sure you never find the ruins, and that's what I intend to do."

"Bouran is also a guide," Mala informed Sydney. "He must be leading these others to Lesha."

He glanced at her. "Shut up."

When his attention turned, Sydney kicked out, knocking the sword from his hand. Nigel ran to it and picked it up, coming over to point it at the other man.

"I'll watch him," Sydney said, drawing her own sword once more. A feeling of deja vu struck her as she said, "Nigel, go find some rope."

"There's some in the barn." This was Mala.

Nigel nodded, handing Mala the sword and running to the barn.

Before long, they had the four tied up, all still unconscious except Bouran, who said, "We're coming for you, treasure hunter. No matter where you go, you can't hide from us. I know this area as well as my brother. We'll hunt you down and kill you."

"You can try," Sydney told him, tightening the ropes. "You won't be the first."

When all was secure, Sydney hugged Mala again. "Will you be all right with them here?"

"They're more concerned with you than me. I'll keep them a couple of days, then let them go." Mala then hugged Nigel. "Good luck, Nigel. And take care of Sydney."

He gave her a strange little smile but just said, "I will."

They picked up their bags and, after one more wave to Mala, slipped into the trees. Without Yorn to push them, they went at their own pace, and Nigel seemed much more relaxed.

Sydney remembered her promise to Mala. "Nigel."

He was looking at his feet and concentrating on not tripping. "Yeah, Syd?"

"I'm really glad you're here with me."

He looked at her in surprise, failing in his efforts not to trip. Catching a tree branch to keep from falling, he said, "You are?"

He sounded wistful and sweet. Mala was right, Sydney didn't tell him she appreciated him nearly enough.

"Of course I am. I can't imagine being here without you. You're the only piece of reality in this whole strange world. I wouldn't want to be here alone, and I'm really glad it's you I got stuck here with. We work so well together, we can't fail."

The smile she liked so much lit his face. "I'm glad I'm here too."

They didn't talk much after that. Sydney pored over Yorn's hand drawn map, trying to keep them on track. Nigel trudged behind her, letting her think and navigate. The forest around them was quiet, and Sydney could feel some of the hushed expectation Nigel had said was so creepy. They still had several days before they reached the land it came from. She wondered what that would be like, how it would feel.

Though it felt as if the trees were watching them, the day passed without incident. Nigel didn't even have as many tumbles as Sydney expected. Even so, Sydney felt tense as she wondered if the men--and woman--after her had managed to escape Mala. If so, they would be on her and Nigel's trail.

As darkness fell, the two of them made a little shelter with the fallen branches around them. Sydeny made it look as natural as she could and made sure they could not be seen when they were inside. The quarters were tight, but they'd been in tighter. Both of them could stretch out, and there was still room for their things.

Sydney settled down next to Nigel and ordered their light to go out. Not for the first time, she praised Rayzi for making it for them.

Beside her, Nigel wriggled restlessly, bumping her lightly. Sydney had closed her eyes but couldn't sleep with him moving.

"Nigel," she hissed, "settle down."

"Sorry, Sydney. I just can't get comfortable. I have stones poking into my back."

Sydney sighed. "Do you want to trade places?"

"No, there are probably just as many stones over there."

"Well, do something. I can't sleep with you fidgeting like that."

"Maybe if I turn on my side..."

Nigel suited actions to words, rolling over towards her. They were so close that the movement put him curled up against her with his cheek on her shoulder.

"Oops," he squeaked, trying to wriggle away and shaking their shelter in the process.

"It's all right, Nigel," she said, "I'd rather this side was against me than the alternative." She held him where he was. "If you can get comfortable this way, stay here. You always fall asleep on me on trains anyway. I'm used to it."

Nigel sighed and relaxed.

"Comfy?"

"Actually yes. I finally managed to find a position without stones."

"Good." She patted his arm. At least, she hoped it was his arm. "Then go to sleep."

"Yes, Mum," he said, and she could feel him smiling against her shoulder.

Cheeky bugger!


	8. Chapter 8

It took them seven days to traverse the woods. Yorn had warned them that the trees would give way to beautiful and lush meadows, meadows that never changed with the seasons and felt nothing of drought . This would be their indication that they had reached the Wounded Lands.

Sydney was the first to stumble out into them, blinking rapidly at the sun stabbing into her eyes after days of semi-darkness. Nigel popped out after her, stumbling into her because he didn't expect her to stop. She swayed and only her acute sense of balance prevented the two of them from tumbling to the ground.

The view was spectacular. Green, flower-filled meadows stretched out in front of them like some sort of summer dream. Lakes and rivers dotted them, all full and healthier than anything else they had seen in Telurra. In the distance, there were more forests, also lush and green.

"It looks more like paradise than a death trap," Nigel said.

"For now. At least, for a little while, we'll be able to see if the nasty quartet is back on our trail."

"Mala was right when she said the drought wasn't natural."

"Yes, she was. Hopefully, that means the Staff really will be able to break it."

"I wonder why Yorn's brother agreed to help whoever's doing this when he knew it would hurt his country."

"Greed," Sydney said, wiping a hand over her forehead. The day was unusually warm. "You've seen it win as many times as I have."

"Yes," he admitted, "but I've seen it lose too."

She smiled at him. "That's what makes it all worth fighting for."

Together, they started crossing the meadow. It was peaceful and made Sydney want to curl up and sleep. She yawned, covering her mouth, and blinked hard. Beside her, Nigel started rubbing his eyes.

"Nigel," she said softly after awhile, "maybe we should lie down and have a little nap."

"I am awfully tired," he said in a sleepy, little boy voice.

"This looks like a nice place."

The grass was very inviting. Shrugging her pack to the ground, Sydney lay down, positioning her bedroll under her head. She sighed happily and closed her eyes. There was a rustling nearby that said Nigel had also curled up on the ground.

"Night, Nige," she whispered.

She barely heard him say, "Night, Syd," before she was fast asleep.

XXX

_"Sydney!"_

_Sydney opened her eyes and found herself on a strange white plain. Only emptiness and whiteness surrounded her for as far as her eyes could see. She couldn't even tell land and sky apart, and she knew she had to be dreaming._

_"Sydney."_

_The voice was familiar, but she couldn't place it. Slowly, she turned around, squinting._

_"Where are you? Why are we here?"_

_"You have to wake up, Sydney."_

_The air in front of her shimmered and a form appeared. It was dressed in white and blended in with the surroundings. Its face was young and pretty, but its eyes were old._

_"Karolyne?"_

_"Sydney, listen to me. You have to wake up."_

_"I don't understand."_

_"Your sleep is not natural. If you don't wake up, something bad is going to happen."_

_"But I'm so tired." Even in this dream, she could feel it dragging at her. She wanted to curl up in the whiteness and sleep._

_"If you don't wake up, you will die. Nigel will die."_

_"Nigel?"_

_"Yes, Nigel. Do you want to be responsible for his death?"_

_Sydney shook her head, trying to clear it. "Why do you care if we die or not?"_

_"If this land dies, if they take it, everything I sacrificed will be for nothing."_

_Sydney nodded in understanding. "So, what do I have to do?"_

_"The first step is to wake up."_

_"Okay, I will...somehow. Thank you."_

_The ghostly form didn't answer, it just faded into the nothing it came from. Sydney watched it go, then closed her eyes to concentrate._ Wake up. Come on, wake up. _She struggled, pushing, but it felt like her mind was encased in lead. Scowling, Sydney pushed harder. After all the things she had survived, she wasn't going to let herself be defeated by sleep._

Slowly, her eyes--her real eyes--opened. Above her, the sky was still blue and cloudless, and she could smell the sweetness of the summer flowers in the air. She blinked her eyes several times before forcing the rest of her to move. She turned and saw Nigel sleeping beside her.

Her body was reluctant to move, but she forced it to roll over on its side so she could reach his shoulder. She gave it a gentle shake. When that didn't work, she shook it a little harder. He mumbled but did not awaken.

That's when she saw them. They jarred her awake, and the last of the fogginess in her brain dissipated.

"Nigel," she said urgently, shaking him again.

Some sort of plant life, they looked like vines, had come out of the ground and twined themselves around Nigel. There were some around his arms and some around his legs. As she watched, they crept and slithered over his stomach and chest.

Sydney quickly looked down at herself and saw that the vines had started entangling her as well. She wasn't as badly entwined as Nigel, though; the vines were only around her left arm and leg. That was why she hadn't noticed before. She had turned into them, but now more were reaching for her, trying to twine in her legs and around her waist.

Leaving Nigel for the moment, Sydney reached for her boot. As if sensing her movements, the vines reached for her wrist. They also started moving faster to entangle her body.

"I don't think so," she snarled.

Grabbing her knife, she sliced upward, cutting through the vines reaching for her wrist. Then, she got the ones around her waist. In response, more vines came out of the earth, heaving and churning bits of dirt caught in their wake. There were suddenly so many that Sydney felt her insides go cold and her face pale.

As quickly as she could, she kept slashing, refusing to be overcome. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nigel, still motionless, his body thick with vines. The sight made her move even faster.

Sydney managed to wriggle from the vines and onto her knees. When she was no longer lying down, the vines that had surrounded her disappeared into the ground.

"They get you when you're asleep," she said quietly. If she could get Nigel awake and moving, he'd be all right.

She started with the vines on his face. His being able to breathe was her first priority. Carefully, she sliced through vines trying to choke him. Her hands shook a little, and she was afraid she'd cut him and kill him herself.

The vines writhed at her rough treatment. She set her teeth and ignored the fact that they felt like snakes.

Every time she cut a vine, two more seemed to take its place. She worked until her hands were raw, and then she worked some more. She refused to give up Nigel. He would not die here on this alien world. She would not allow it.

"Come on, Nigel. Wake up. If I can get enough of these off of you for you to sit up, they'll stop."

He choked as a particularly nasty tendril grabbed tightly onto his throat. Sydney scowled and cut it just as he started to turn blue.

"Nigel," she said sharply, "I need you to wake up. She took precious seconds to shake him. "Nigel!"

"Sydney, stop shouting." His voice was quiet, but she was so relieved when it reached her ears that she felt almost giddy.

"Nigel, are you awake?"

"I think so." He blinked languidly.

"Good boy. Don't go back to sleep."

"So tired..." His eyes started to flutter closed again, so Sydney slapped him sharply across the face.

"Ow...hurt, Syd..."

"It was supposed to," she said calmly, though she felt anything but.

"Why are you holding me down? What's going on?"

"I'm not holding you down, Nigel. You're caught in a trap, and I can't get you out if you're asleep."

His eyes widened, and his face was suddenly alert. He wiggled, and the vines tightened their hold.

"Syd, I can't move."

"I know," she said soothingly. "I'm going to get you out of this."

She cut some more vines, freeing one of his arms. Nigel flailed it wildly, barely missing Sydney's head. She ducked, not even slowing in her work. It was encouraging to see that the vines had some trouble recapturing Nigel's arm.

"Keep moving."

He did as she asked, shaking his head, which she had kept free, back and forth and swinging his one vine-free arm. His movement made it harder to cut the vines away without hurting him, but it also seemed to discourage the vines.

Excitement mounting, Sydney cut through the ones on his chest and other arm. When his upper half was free, she grabbed him and hauled him into a sitting position. He grunted at her treatment but made no comment. Sydney had to admit to herself that he was probably used to such treatment from her.

As Nigel's body went upright, the vines started melting away and back into the ground. They did it even faster than they had rushed to cover him.

"Are you all right?" Sydney noticed she sounded slightly out of breath.

Nigel ran his hands over his body. "I think so."

Sydney smiled and gave Nigel's shoulder a little squeeze before hauling herself to her feet.

"Then I'd suggest we get out of here."

She got no arguments from Nigel

XXX

The meadows still looked as aesthetically pleasing but didn't seem quite as beautiful as Sydney and Nigel hurried across them. Sydney kept thinking of the killing vines that might be lurking beneath their feet.

Besides that, now that Yorn was no longer with them, Nigel was not timid in relaying his opinion of the Wounded Lands. If she had to hear another way of saying 'this is crazy', she thought she might scream.

"You don't like it here. I get it. Now, stop whining."

"And how are we going to know when it's safe to sleep? We can't go the whole trip without sleeping. And Yorn couldn't even tell us what dangers we'd face because they're different every time someone comes here."

"Nigel, you're not helping!" she snapped.

He clamped his mouth shut and hunched in on himself. Sydney was immediately sorry for losing her temper, but she didn't tell him so. They trudged on in silence for several minutes before she spoke again, in a mild and even tone.

"Besides, we should reach the ruins sometime tomorrow. They should be safe to sleep in." She stopped and dug out Yorn's map to show him.

He looked at it politely, but his face still showed a slight pout.

"I know," she teased, "if we reach the ruins. I can read your mind, Nigel Bailey."

She hoped this would make him smile, but it didn't.

"How long am I going to get the silent treatment?" She noticed that some of her exasperation leaked into her voice.

"I thought you wanted me to shut up."

Okay, she was going to kill him.

She stopped and gave him her best glare. It softened when she saw he looked genuinely hurt. Sydney immediately went back to feeling sorry.

"I know you're stressed, but it will be okay."

"How can we know that, Syd? I mean, this situation is different from anything we've ever done before."

At least he was talking again.

"I know this because it's you and me working together. We're an unbeatable team."

"But the very land is against us!"

"The land just is, Nigel. When we...navigated the land mines, were they against us? No. They were just weapons created for another time that we just happened to have to cross."

"It was kind of like this, wasn't it?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Yes."

"And we did okay?"

Well, she didn't know if his landing on a land mine, their guide getting killed, Karen getting kidnapped, and her falling down a hole constituted 'doing okay', but now that she had him, she agreed again. "Of course."

"So, where do you think it will be safe to sleep tonight?"

Sydney started walking again. "Well, I think the vines put out the sleep spell. That means they could knock us out at anytime. If we go to sleep naturally, we should be all right, but we'll keep watch to be safe. There are more dangers out here than those vines."

"Don't remind me." His voice sounded lighter, which made Sydney feel better.

She grinned at him. "We'll keep watch, just to make sure. I'll even lend you my knife."

They stopped for their last meal and, though Sydney knew they shouldn't be attacked without feeling an unnatural sleepiness, she was still relieved when vines didn't come seething out of the ground. Seeing a copse of trees nearby, she suggested they sleep there. The meadows still made her nervous.

The night passed quietly, but it was still with relief that the relic hunters rose and got ready to face the day. As they packed up, Sydney kept stealing glances at Nigel. He looked a lot calmer than the day before, and he wasn't complaining. Still, he wasn't smiling.

"What do you think these ruins will be like, Sydney?" he asked, doing up his pack and attaching it to his bedroll.

"I don't know. Yorn said there was a whole city there before the Mage Wars, but now only the castle of the local lord is standing."

Shouldering their packs, they stepped out of the woods and onto the meadows. The land changed a bit and became more hilly, but the blue sky and green grass remained constant.

"It's too bad we can't take some of what makes this place nice and green and give it to Theri," Nigel commented as they trudged along.

"I don't think she'd like the unpredictable magecraft remnants that come with it."

"I suppose you're right."

A scream from above made them both look up. Sydney stopped in her tracks and stared, her mouth gaping. Beside her, Nigel gasped. Sydney noticed it absently; most of her attention was on the form in the sky.

"What is that?" Nigel asked.

It was the biggest animal she had ever seen. The shadow it cast covered the land, gobbling up everything in its path. The creature screamed again.

"I think it's some kind of bird," she said.

Nigel squinted, craning his neck. He suggested, "They might have dragons here."

"It doesn't move like a dragon."

He glanced at her. "And how many dragons have you seen?"

"I just mean, it flaps its wings like a bird does. I thought dragons were supposed to glide." She raised an eyebrow at him. "What does Sir Nigel think?"

He colored, and she bumped her shoulder against him gently to show she was just teasing.

"Sir Nigel thinks that thing better not get too much closer, no matter what it is. Anything that big has got to be carnivorous."

"What about whales?"

He shook his head and started forward again. Sydney took one more look upward before she quickly followed behind. He turned and slowed so she could catch up.

"Come on. I think I see something over there."

It took them almost an hour to get to the place where Sydney thought she saw something. It was an outcropping of stone that she realized couldn't be natural.

"See this?" she said, "I think it was part of a foundation."

"You could be right," Nigel agreed. "Look."

Sydney squinted into the sun, following Nigel's hand. There was a hill and, behind that, she could see a bit of grey stone.

"The castle?"

"I think so."

"Then, let's go."

"Can't we eat first?" Nigel asked pleadingly.

Sydney rolled her eyes. "Is that all you can think about?"

"A full Nigel is a happy Nigel."

She snorted. "Fine. We were due for a rest anyway."

Smiling, Nigel sat and dug into his bag to find the remaining bundle of food left from Sydney's last supper hunt. He took half and gave the other half to Sydney.

"This is the last of it. Yorn seemed positive that we'd be able to find something to eat in here."

"Yes, I remember. Only normal looking bunnies and sip the water before you take a deep drink. I did see a couple of rabbits in the fields yesterday."

"Technically, Syd, I think they were hares."

"What?"

He looked sheepish but continued, "If you look at their back legs and their ears, there's quite a bit of difference, and, though you can't tell this by looking, a rabbit is born blind and hairless, while a hare is not."

"Fascinating, Nigel." Sydney managed to keep most of the sarcasm out of her voice.

"I loved rabbits when I was a kid, and I read everything I could about them. Peter Rabbit, The Velveteen Rabbit, I must have read them all a thousand times."

Sydney filed this away in her mind, next to the place where she kept the memory of Nigel acting out the swordplay he had shared with his father.

"Did you have a pet rabbit?" she asked curiously.

"No." His face fell a little. "My animal allergies extend to rabbits, I'm afraid."

"Maybe you should bring your leaves home with you."

He looked thoughtful. "Do you think they'd work there?"

"It wouldn't hurt to try."

They spent the next several hours making their way through tumbledown stones, moving towards the castle. Sydney's curiosity was piqued as it became increasingly obvious that the rubble was the remains of some sort of civilization.

The stones leaned together like a giant child's discarded blocks. Bunches of grass grew up around them, choking out what little life might have been left. Hints of metal shone from among the grey and green, along with bits of wood and what might have been bone.

Though they didn't really have time to poke through the ruins, Sydney occasionally knelt to look at something that caught her eye. She saw some utensills and once even a rusted dagger.

Nigel's eyes sparkled, and he stopped more often than Sydney, looking like a little boy in a toy store.

When they reached the top of the hill, they saw the castle. It was large and grey with gaping black windows that looked almost like empty eyes. Sydney felt herself shudder at the imagery. She wasn't the type to get creeped out easily, but there was a strange feeling in the air of the Wounded Lands. Plus, she was still wrestling with the memory of the panic caused by the vines.

"We're going there?" Nigel asked.

"It beats sleeping outside."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Come on."

The ground was really uneven after that, and Sydney kept reaching over to steady Nigel. Amazingly, no matter how many times he tottered, he managed not to fall on his butt.

As they neared the castle, Sydney went hunting and Nigel refilled their waterskins in a nearby river. Sydney hoped the water was safe to drink.

It didn't take long to catch a rabbit--or hare, she corrected herself. After hooking it to her pack, she retrieved Nigel. The two of them were walking together in leisurely, companionable silence when the world around them went completely still. Even the slight breeze seemed to stop kissing their sweat-slicked skin.

"Sydney," Nigel whispered.

"I feel it."

She looked around, her body tensing. Everything looked exactly the same as it had moments before. And then she saw the shadow. It was larger than before and moved across the ground at an alarming rate. Her eyes rolled heavenward and she swallowed.

The bird-like creature they had seen in the distance earlier was swooping down, and it was heading straight for them. The animal was completely black with gleaming feathers and a cruel and sharp looking beak that could swallow Sydney with one gulp.

"Nigel, run."

"What?"

She pointed at the bird, then grabbed his arm. Together, they ran the few remaining feet to the castle. It wasn't surrounded by a moat like castles in fairy tales, but the doors were big, heavy, and capable of keeping out invading armies.

Hurriedly, they tugged at the doors. The bird swooped closer, and Sydney and Nigel grew desperate.

"Pull, Nigel."

"I am pulling!"

Just when Sydney thought they were buzzard bait, the doors groaned and opened just enough for her and Nigel to squeeze through. The bird screamed a horrible cry of rage that raised goosebumps along Sydney's arms. With relief, she helped Nigel slam the door behind them.

The inside of the castle was grim and dark, even with the windows, and Sydney quickly dug the light globe out of her pack.

As she lit it, she saw tattered cloths that might have been tapestries and lots of dust and cobwebs. She made the light a little brighter to dispel the gloom.

"I suggest we find a room with a fireplace. Unless you want to eat your supper raw."

It didn't take them long to find the main hall. It was humongous, with several long tables and a large fireplace at one end. The table nearest it was raised up from the floor and had the remains of what must have been a beautiful tablecloth.

Sydney shone her globe on it. "The lord's table...and our bed."

"But it's filthy."

"So is everything else. We'll clean ourselves off a little space."

In fact, she set Nigel to cleaning off a space while she cleaned the hare. On inspection, the chimney seemed to be amazingly intact, which meant more smoke would go out than stay in. That was always good.

They used chairs for fuel. Nigel was still cleaning the table while she broke up chairs from the others to make kindling.

The fire, once she got it going, seemed to chase away some of the gloom, and the crackle and pop seemed almost homey.

Though outside had been unusually warm, the castle was cool, so the fire was nice. Sydney spit the hare, then she and Nigel sat close together near the fire to watch it roast.

"He looks and smells very good," Nigel commented, "but I can't help but think he was cuter with his skin on."

Sydney didn't know what to say to this, so she changed the subject. "Well, a couple more weeks and we'll be reaching the area believed to be the ruins of Lesha. "

"That's two weeks too long for me." Nigel hugged himself. "I don't like this place. Sometimes I feel there are people watching me...like ghosts..."

"It's bound to feel that way. Everyone who lived in these lands died a horrible death. The feel of it is still here."

Nigel shivered. "Thanks for reminding me."

"Don't be scared, Nigel." She grinned, retrieving their hare from the fire. "I'll protect you."

"I don't know if even the great Sydney Fox can defeat a ghost."

Sydney plastered a hurt look on her face. "Don't you believe in me?"

He had been reaching in his bag for the water casks but stopped at her words. A look of horror went over his face, and he flushed in distress.

"Of...of course I believe in you."

She took pity on him and assured, "I'm just teasing."

"Oh."

They lapsed into silence and began to eat. The hare wasn't done as well as Sydney would have liked, but the kitchen wasn't the best, and she wasn't exactly what you'd call a terrific cook. Other things held more priority. At least Nigel didn't complain.

"I think you're getting better," he complimented afterward, licking off his fingers and passing her the water flask.

She wasn't quite sure how to take this but said, "Thanks."

He sighed and leaned against the dais. Sydney watched him out of the corner of her eye and saw that he looked very content. It was surprising considering he had just been claiming fear of ghosts.

Sydney also leaned back, settling against the stone. It was cold and hard against her back, but the fire at her front was lively and warm. Sydney wrapped her arms around her legs and stared into the flames. They were so pretty, they were almost hypnotic.

She heard Nigel singing softly. She had never known him to sing to himself, but she'd heard him at least three or four times since their journey started. Maybe it was because the music reminded him of home. Abruptly, he stopped and said, "Sydney?"

"Hmmnn?" she asked dreamily.

"What happens when we find The Staff?"

"We grab it and bring it back to Theri."

"But after that..."

"We go home."

"We've got to go get the Staff, then bring it back through this crazy land, and go all the way back to Theri before that can happen."

"No sweat."

He shifted uneasily. "What if Rayzi can't put us back at the right time? We'll have lost almost two months of our lives."

"Not lost, Nigel. We're using them, just in an unusual way. Would you have considered them lost if we were hunting a relic at home?"

"I guess not." He didn't sound too sure.

"Are you still homesick?"

"No...well, maybe a little."

She looked over at him. He looked so sad and melancholy. His hair was all mussed, and he had a streak of dirt on his pale cheek. Besides melancholy, he also looked irresistibly cute.

"Cheer up, Nigel."

"What?"

"You looked so happy and contented a moment ago. Cheer up again."

He rolled his eyes. "That didn't help, Sydney."

She opened her mouth in mock surprise. "It didn't?"

The corner of his mouth twitched. "No, it didn't."

"Well, I don't know what else to do. Are you ticklish?"

His eyes widened. "Nooooo," he lied.

"You are!" Sydney smiled, delighted.

"No, I'm not," he protested, moving away from her.

"You can't lie to me, Nigel Bailey. I know you too well. You are ticklish, and if you don't cheer up, I'm going to come over there, sit on you, and tickle you senseless."

"You...you wouldn't dare."

Her grin turned decidedly evil. "Try me."

He spluttered a moment, then forced a smile to his face, but it didn't yet reach his eyes. Suddenly, the most important thing in the world to her was making Nigel smile.

"C'mon, cutie. I know you've got a better smile in you than that," she purred.

Her comment had the opposite effect to what she wanted. The smile dropped from his face, and he looked slightly stunned. His hazel eyes twinkled in false merriment from the firelight, and Sydney longed to make it true merriment.

"So," she said in a slow drawl, "are you still missing Karen?"

"She is pretty," he admitted wistfully.

Sydney felt herself pouting. "Is she prettier than I am?"

"Nobody's as pretty as you are, Sydney."

She colored. "Thank yo...Wait, not even Cate?"

Nigel seemed to weigh this in his mind for a moment. "I don't know. C'mere."

Puzzled, Sydney leaned forward. Nigel's hand went quickly through her hair, his fingers gentle and deft. Then, her reached forward and undid the first tie on her shirt and pulled it slightly sideways.

"The prettiest I ever remember seeing her was with her hair mussed and her shirt unbuttoned." Nigel told a very shocked Sydney. "I told her she was the most beautiful woman in the world, but, you know, I don't think she compares."

Sydney opened her mouth to answer, but couldn't. Nigel's eyes were serious. She shook her head sharply, suddenly realizing something was wrong. She had called Nigel cutie; he had touched her clothing.

"I think something is wrong."

"Like what?" he was still watching her.

"I don't know, but I feel funny."

She did, slightly. It wasn't a bad funny, though, just strange. A little silly; a little sappy; more than a little restless.

"I think it might be another spell," she continued, "One that affects emotions...or thoughts."

"I feel fine."

"Nigel, you undid my shirt."

Nigel looked from her face to her exposed cleavage and then back up again. Then, he looked at his hand like it belonged to someone else.

"Maybe I am slightly disoriented."

Sydney started giggling at this. She didn't know why, but she found the look on Nigel's face hilarious. The indignation that her giggles caused made her giggle even harder.

"You're so adorable," she said in between giggles, reaching out to ruffle his already tousled hair. It was soft and silky. Her ruffle turned to a caress. "And you feel nice too."

"I'm not a teddy bear, you know." He caught her hand gently and pulled it away.

"You're my teddy bear, Nigel. Though I never get to hug you enough."

He gave her hand a tug and she fell forward--right into his arms. Now his eyes started to twinkle with real mischief and merriment. "Here's your chance."

If he thought he was going to shock her again, he was in for another thought, she assured herself, and instead of pulling away, she put her arms around him and snuggled closer.

"Nigel?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"Do you really think I'm pretty?"

"Prettier and more precious than the best relic we've ever found."

"You're not just saying that because I can kick your butt?"

It was his turn to giggle, and it was such a silly sound that it made Sydney giggle as well.

"That wasn't an answer, Nigel Bailey."

"Did anyone ever tell you you sound like the Martian Queen?"

"What?" Sydney pulled away, trying to follow his train of thought.

He giggled again. "Have you ever seen Duck Dodgers?"

"Duck Dodgers?"

Nigel started singing a very strange and silly song that Sydney thought might have been a cartoon theme song. He sang it with a Tom Jones-like inflection in his voice.

"That is the craziest thing I've ever heard."

He stopped singing. "I didn't write it."

"I'm sure anything you wrote would be far superior."

"Yes, it would."

She slapped him playfully. "That's one of the things I like about you. You're so modest."

"I know." He grinned, and it lit up his whole face.

"No wonder chicks love you," Sydney blurted in response.

It was his turn to look at her as if she were crazy. "I'm lucky if I get one date a year."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "It's because you don't ask. When we get home, ask Karen, you'll see."

"Karen?"

"Oh, Nigel." Sydney tweaked his cheek. "She's been trying to get you to ask her out for six months."

"Karen?" he repeated.

Sydney pulled him closer and kissed his cheek. "You are so delightfully clueless."

He grunted at that, pulling away. "Yorn thought I was a buffoon too."

Sydney opened her mouth and closed it twice before gasping, "I never said you were a buffoon. I would never say that about you."

"No?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

Sydney found herself thinking how beautiful and compelling his were. This time, when she leaned forward to kiss him, it was gently on the lips. She felt Nigel go completely still against her. His lips were soft, she noted before pulling away. His eyes stared into hers as he brought his fingers up to brush his lips.

"You kissed me," he said quietly.

"Yes," she agreed. "I believe I did."

"You wouldn't kiss me if you thought I was a buffoon."

"You're right, Nige. I wouldn't. You are my teddy bear," she smiled, "my best friend, my partner, my shoulder, my better half, my ear, my confidence, my knowledge, my reason...but not my buffoon."

He threw his arms around her and hugged her close once more. "Oh, Syd, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

XXX

Sydney came to awareness feeling warm and comfy. Somebody's body was wrapped around hers, and it felt very, very nice. She smiled and let herself drift back towards sleep. Then, a familiar voice made her eyes pop open and drove sleep far, far away.

"Sydney." The man behind her sighed in his sleep.

In horror, Sydney did a quick check and was relieved to discover that both of them were fully clothed. Still, the question remained as to how she and Nigel came to be sharing a bedroll, twined together like the husband and wife they had pretended to be.

Frantically, Sydney searched her mind for answers. Bits and pieces of the night before floated through her head. She vaguely remembered dancing across the dining room while she and Nigel sang a very off-key duet as well as a weird conversation about Martians. They hadn't drunk anything but the water from the river, which might have been spelled. Besides, she felt too good for the craziness and memory loss to be alcohol induced. Whatever the spell had been, it left her feeling peaceful and content. What worried her was that anything could have caused it--the water, the rabbit, the room.

She grimaced and reached for more memories. A picture or two whizzed by, but they were going so fast that she couldn't catch them to examine them. It seemed as if the night would have to remain a mystery.

If she had been shocked by their position, she knew Nigel would be mortified. Quickly, she untied the roll and gently pried Nigel's arm from her waist. It was rather difficult as it seemed not to want to let go. When he mumbled in his sleep, she patted his arm soothingly, stopping to see if he'd wake up. He didn't, so she managed to free herself and slip into the chill air of the morning. Lying with Nigel had certainly been more comfortable. Their fire had gone out sometime in the night, but their little globe still cast a dim glow.

Sydney packed up their things before waking Nigel. He blinked sleepily, frowing as he tried to recall the night before.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead."

"Sydney, were we drunk?" he asked, sitting up.

"Spelled, I think."

He shook his head. "I remember...I remember...I don't know what I remember. It's all very fuzzy. Did you hug me?"

Sydney stopped what she was doing and thought about that. "I have no idea."

Nigel drew his brow together as he fought to get out of his bedroll. As he emerged, Sydney handed him the last piece of rabbit from the night before. Because they would be travelling in tunnels below the city for the next two days, she was going to have to gather enough food for them. Besides meat, she had seen some berries that she knew were safe to eat. She just hoped growing in this land hadn't warped them. There was also supposed to be an orchard around here somewhere. She was going to send Nigel in search of it. With enough apples, berries, meat, and water, they should make it through to the other side fine.

She was telling her plan to Nigel, who was listening intently, when a strange look went over his face. His eyes widened and dropped from hers, and his face flushed crimson.

Sydney stopped in mid-sentence to demand, "What?"

"What what?"

Her eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"

He raised a hand to assure her," Nothing."

"Nigel, tell me what's going on."

"Nothing," he repeated. "It's just...what do you remember about last night?"

"Bad singing and Martians, why?"

He just shook his head. "We were acting very strangely."

Sydney sighed. It seemed he was embarrassed for whatever he was remembering. "Don't worry about it. I don't remember much, and neither do you. Let's just pretend it never happened and move on."

He gave her an unreadable look but said, "Okay."

Their hunt for food was pretty successful, and Sydney was sure they'd have enough to last for their two days underground. That taken care of, they started looking for the secret passage Yorn had told them about. He said it would avoid the most dangerous part of the Wounded Lands.

It was right where the guide said it would be, behind a sliding panel in one of the bedrooms.

"And we're sure this is quite safe?" Nigel asked, peering into the darkness.

Sydney held up her light, shining it down the dusty, damp, cobweb filled corridor. "Safer than up there."

"But what if there is some giant spell-mutated spider just waiting for something juicey--mainly us--to get caught in its web?"

"Don't be so melodramatic."

"Did you see the bird out there?"

"If you want to walk above, be my guest," she declared with just a hint of exasperation.

His eyes rolled up to look at the stone ceiling, and he shook his head. "No, this will be fine."

Sydney went into the tunnel first, with Nigel huddled close behind her. The scene around them was so familiar after all the craziness they'd been through that it seemed like one of their normal relic hunts. It was so similar that Sydney made a mental note to look for traps. After all, the original owners of the castle had built this tunnel for something.

"Makes you less homesick, huh, Nigel?" Sydney said playfully, glancing at him over her shoulder.

"Yes, these tunnels are positively brilliant," he replied sarcastically, but Sydney noticed his eyes were glowing and he was moving a little more confidently.

"It's been awhile since anyone's been down here. Any tracks have been covered."

"How many people as crazy as Yorn do you think are out there?"

This time, she turned all the way and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, besides us, I mean."

Sydney grinned at him and shook her head. "Come on, Nigel."

The tunnel was actually in pretty good shape considering its age and the battle that had raged above it. Of course, there were still some signs of deterioration. Besides the cobwebs, there were also fallen stones and rotted wood--not to mention the rodents and really ugly bugs.

Occasionally, Sydney heard Nigel stumbling and checked to see if he was okay. Most of the time, he would shrug or grimace in answer. These sounds were as familiar to her as the feel of her crossbow or the steel of her knife.

She was more concerned when she hadn't heard him stub his toe for awhile. Expecting to see him sitting on the floor refushing to move until he had a little rest, Sydney turned.

"Are you all right?"

The corridor behind her was empty. Frantically, Sydney searched her mind to remember when she had last heard Nigel stumble or had talked to him. Her eyes widened as she realized it had been quite awhile.

"Nigel?" she called, then louder, "Nigel!"

There was no answer. The corridor around her was eerily silent. She couldn't even hear the squeaking of rats anymore. A shiver went down her spine.

"Nigel!" She heard the panic in her voice and tried to clamp it down.

She listened hard, hoping to hear him call out to her, even if it was faint. There was no sound in response. Pictures of him unconscious and hurt flooded her mind. She shook her head to clear it, determined to hold on to logic.

Sydney closed her eyes, searching the corridor in her memory for anything she might have seen and dismissed that could have hurt Nigel. She couldn't think of anything. Nothing natural could have fallen on him; she would have heard it.

"Damn."

Resettling her pack, bow, and quiver, Sydney started back down the way she had come. Her footsteps echoed loudly around her, and the walls didn't seem as friendly or familiar as before.

She had lost Nigel many times over their two and a half year partnership. It seemed that someone was always kidnapping him or forcing him to do things at gunpoint. This felt different, though. All those other times, she had a plan. She knew who had Nigel and her mind quickly worked out a way to get him loose. But now, she didn't know where he was, and the walls weren't telling her anything.

She bent and took the knife out of her boot. It felt comforting and familiar in her hand. She had held it this way so many times that it was almost a part of her. It had been with her before her crossbow, before Nigel, before she got her teaching degree. Before she found Nigel, it had been more reliable than any of her assistants.

Feeling more confident, she crept down the corridor, mostly ignoring the paths that led away. Nigel wasn't one to wander off. Besides, she could see the dust in them remained undisturbed.

Sydney brightened the light to make sure she didn't miss anything and followed her tracks backwards. She was immediately glad she did because she saw a trail through the dust of one of the branching hallways. She crouched to study the disturbance and saw one faintly defined footprint of about Nigel's size and signs of something being dragged through the dirt..

"Nigel?" she called. It echoed back to her, but there was no other sound. "Nigel, if this is a joke, it's not funny."

She knew that it was a ridiculous thing to say as soon as it came out of her mouth.

With a shake of her head, she followed the trail right to the end of the corridor. It ended in a small room that looked like it had been used for storage. Sydney swept the light from her globe around the room. It was mostly empty, with only cobwebs and a few bits of rotten wood that might have been the remains of a table inside. And one other thing.

He was crumpled in a corner, face down and very still. Sydney made a very undignified noise and hurried to his side. Quickly, she checked his pulse, afraid of what she would find. Relief flooded through her as she felt a slow but steady beat.

"What happened to you?" she asked softly as she carefully turned him over.

His face was very pale, and he had a small scratch on his cheek. Sydney touched it gently, wincing because she knew that Nigel hated pain. There also seemed to be bruises forming, not only on his face but on what she could see of his neck and chest as well. She brushed the hair from his face and placed her hand on his forehead. He felt cold and clammy.

"Wake up, Nigel." She patted his face gently with her palm. "Come on, wake up. Come back to me."

This got no reaction whatsoever. She tapped him again. A memory of the night before flashed through her head and she added, "If you don't, I'll tickle you."

A hiss sounded from behind her, and Sydney whirled, snatching up the knife she had lain on the ground beside Nigel. The creature was so unexpected that the knife almost fell from suddenly numb fingers. It looked almost human. In dim light, Sydney might have mistaken it for a very tall man. That is, if she didn't look in its eyes.

The eyes were blank red pits with no pupils. They looked almost like living flames. Plus, there was a faint covering of reddish brown fur over its whole body. Where fingers should have been, its hands ended in sharp talons, and pointed teeth poked out of its large and misshapen lips.

Somehow, Yorn had forgotten to mention a crazed, seven foot tall human-like beast.

"Well, aren't you beautiful," she said, crouching low, with her knife ready.

The monster growled and rushed at her, claws slashing. She jumped back, narrowly missing being disemboweled. The claws slashed out again, and Sydney quickly moved her head, feeling the wind of their passing tickle her ear.

The next slash overbalanced the beast slightly, and Sydney ducked under its arm to get behind it. She aimed a kick at its rear, and it stumbled.

It was quick, though, and recovered to whirl on Sydney, its eyes blazing and drool dripping off of its yellow teeth. Sydney barely avoided the next slash, which was aimed at her eyes.

She was still holding her knife, but she was reluctant to use it. The creature was obviously not human, but its resemblance to one was enough to make her hesitate to kill it.

Determined, she kicked for the monster's head. When it connected, it felt like kicking stone. Sydney winced in pain, and the creature growled again and reached for her leg. She was too quick and managed to avoid its grip.

Turning, she aimed her left elbow at its face. Because of its height, it was an awkward angle, but she still managed to connect with its nose. She was satisfied to find that the beast's nose could break as well as any human's. The crunch was sickening and there was a lot of blood. Not all of it was the creatures, as it managed to finally rake her bare left arm with its claws. Luckily, Sydney was moving fast and the slash wasn't deep, but it hurt like hell.

The creature was even uglier with blood dripping from its nose down its chin. It gnashed its teeth at Sydney, spluttering blood everywhere. She made a slash at it with her knife. It avoided and reciprocated with a slash of its own. This one grazed lightly across Sydney's cheek. It stung, and she knew she was bleeding again.

Now, she was really getting angry.

At the creature's next slash, she threw up her right arm to catch it on her wrist guard. The claws sliced through, shredding it to ribbons. Sydney used her forward momentum to bring her knee up to what, on a human, was a very sensitive area. It seemed to be the same for hairy man-beasts because the thing doubled over. Sydney hurried to smack it in the back of the head with the handle of her knife. When the beast didn't fall, she did it again, harder. The creature collapsed face first to the floor and lay still. Sydney stayed poised for flight for several moments to see if it would move. When it didn't, she prodded it with her foot. A sensible voice in her mind that sounded a lot like Yorn told her to kill it. Still, Sydney couldn't do it, not in cold blood. She just hoped her decision wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass.

Going over to her bag, she took out one of her nightshirts and ripped it into pieces to bind her arm. It stung but she decided it it didn't look too bad as she washed and dressed it.

That done, she knelt by Nigel, who hadn't moved throughout the whole fight. He was still pale, and his bruises were darker. Sydney could tell he'd be sore when he woke.

She knew there was no way she could carry both packs and bedrolls, the bow, the quiver, and Nigel too. Plus, the two of them had to get out of there quickly.

"Nigel," She shook his shoulder. "Wake up."

A sense of deja vu made her look quickly over her shoulder. This time, there were no beasts waiting to split her open. Feeling a little silly, she turned back to Nigel.

"Come on...Come on. I know you're in there." She leaned closer until her lips were right next to his ear. "Okay, listen to me, Bailey. We are stuck here with a monster that probably wants to eat us. If you don't get up and out of here on your own steam, it might do just that. Now, I need you to open your eyes and help me lug our stuff out of here. Do you hear me?"

He moaned slightly in response, which was encouraging.

"Good boy. Open up those eyes."

"Sydney?" It was just a whisper, and she wasn't completely sure she heard it.

She ran her hand lightly down his face. "Nigel?"

Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking blearily. "Where did that truck go?"

She smiled and patted his cheek. "You're going to be fine."

He sat up slowly, wincing.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked in sympathy.

"Everywhere. What happened?"

Sydney indicated the unconscious beast on the floor. "I think that attacked you. Do you remember?"

His face blanched even further. "What is that?"

"Didn't you see it?"

"No." He shook his head, then put a hand to it and groaned. "I remember walking behind you...and a sharp pain...and that's it."

"Do you think you can stand?" She put her arm out to help him, and he stared at it. "What?"

"Are you all right?"

"It's just a scratch. Now, if you can get up, we need to get out of here before that wakes up."

"If the choice is between getting up or being eaten, I think I'll choose the former."

He let Sydney help him to his feet and, though he swayed slightly, he managed to keep them.

"Well, we're a matching set, anyway," Sydney said cheerily, helping Nigel with his bag.

"What do you mean?"

She reached out and touched his torn cheek.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry."

"It's okay, but here." He reached in his bag and came out with a shirt and his waterskin. Taking the corner of the shirt, he dampened it and gently washed the blood from Sydney's face. "Does it sting?"

"A little," she admitted.

"It doesn't look too bad." He took the light from her and brought it up to examine the cut.

She grinned at him and pointed at the beast. "He looks a lot worse."

Nigel peeked over. "I'll bet he does."

The two of them hurried out into the corridor and followed it to the main hallway. Nigel wasn't walking as quickly as he might have been, and he grunted every few steps, but he kept moving steadily.

"We need to get as far away from that thing as possible," she said.

"No arguments here."

They suffered no more mishaps and didn't see the beast again for the rest of their trip through the tunnels. Even so, it was with relief that they emerged out into the sunlight a little more than a day later. The tunnel they were following came to an abrupt halt, but Yorn had told them how to locate and open the door.

As they found themselves on another sunny hillside, Sydney blinked and squinted, her eyes watering from the sudden glare..

"Off," she told the globe in her hand before stowing it away in her pack.

When she could see clearly, she glanced over at Nigel and saw that he was bruised even worse than she thought. It looked as if the beast had dragged him across the stones on his face. Some of the bruises were fading, though, and he seemed to be moving more easily.

"Well, that was fun," Nigel quipped, shutting the door behind them.

Sydney gave him a mock grimace. "A little quiet for my taste."

"What?" he exclaimed before he noticed she was kidding.

Sydney chuckled and hitched the bow a little higher on her back. As she turned, she caught a glimpse of what lay behind them and her mouth opened in wonder.

"Nigel, look."

He followed her gaze and the two of them soaked in what they had avoided by taking the tunnels. It was both beautiful and barren and it stretched out as far as they could see. The sunlight sparkled off of the multicolored grains of sand, and the reflected light was almost too much for the eye to bear. There was every color you could imagine, and some Sydney had never seen before. It formed dunes and valleys. It was so breathtaking that one could forget that it was made up of glass as well as sand, and that a mere touch of it to bare skin would cut as well as burn.

"Wow."

"Sometimes the most deadly things are the most beautiful."

They contemplated the view for a few more moments before starting down the other side of the hill. It was much like the meadows they had crossed earlier, but a little steeper.

At the bottom of the hill, they saw the path they were on led to a small forest. Sydney took out Yorn's map and located it. She followed the trail with her finger, seeing that they could run into the ruins of Lesha anywhere on the other side. Yorn figured it to be about ten days from there, but even he hadn't gone much further than the other side of the forest.

"So," she said, "Lorn's best guess as to the whereabouts of Lesha is east off the trail once we leave the woods."

"And, after that, we're on our own. Yes, I remember."

Sydney folded the map and commented, "I wish we knew how Yorn was doing. It's too bad we couldn't call and check on his leg."

"It's probably still broken."

"Nigel!"

"Well, it is."

Sydney rolled her eyes at him dramatically and started purposefully towards the trees. Nigel trudged after her. They saw some wildlife as they walked, but it was mostly normal sized birds, rabbits--or hares--and squirrels. There were some tracks of larger beasts, but Sydney and Nigel didn't see any of them.

"Another beautiful day in the Wounded Lands," Sydney said after awhile.

"As long as it doesn't rain," he answered. "Who knows what would fall from the sky--knives? Cannibals? Actual cats and dogs?"

She smiled and teased. "Maybe an aphrodisiac."

He stopped short and stared at her, flushing over every part of his visible skin, even his ears. She thought this blush might actually have gone all the way to his toes. She fought the urge to burst into laughter and kept her face completely straight as she pretended innocence.

After walking a minute with Nigel not following, Sydney turned back, her eyes twinkling. "Then you'd be in trouble. How would you handle an amorous Sydney Fox?"

"The same way I'd handle any other amorous woman, I suppose."

It was Sydney's turn to stop short. How exactly had he meant that? She had often seen Nigel wriggling out of the clutches of amorous women, but she had also seen him give up and go with the flow.

Nigel was still red as he moved past her, but he also had a small, sly smile on his face.

Sydney shook her head and was about to follow when the strangest picture flashed through her head. In it, Nigel leaned forward intently and ran his fingers through her hair, gently mussing it. Then, he began undoing her blouse. Sydney wasn't one to blush often, but she suddenly felt her cheeks get hot. Where had that thought come from?

"Are you coming, Sydney?

She was glad that he was ahead so he couldn't see that her blush rivaled his.

"Of course."

By the time she was even with Nigel, the blood had left her face, and she was wearing her usual expression.

"If you're done tormenting me," he said, "Do you want to stop for some lunch?"

"Sure. We've got about four apples left. It's not much, but it should last us for a couple of hours."

The two of them settled comfortably in the grass, and Sydney handed Nigel two apples while he handed her the waterskin. Sydney stretched out to eat, letting the sun warm her face. It felt very nice after the cold dampness of the tunnels. Nigel sat hunched over, gnawing on his apple like a squirrel.

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked.

"No worse than usual, why?"

"You still look a bit beat up."

He reached up and gingerly touched the bruises on his neck. "They hurt a little, and my muscles are a little sore, but it's not like I were in a fight or anything...Well, if I was, I missed it."

"Be glad you did. That thing was ugly."

"Sydney," Nigel's voice was very serious, "don't you think it would be interesting to really delve into the history of this place? I'll bet there's a great library at Theri's castle. Think of all the ancient relics that could be buried. Think of all the stories and legends we've never heard. I'll bet Telurra is rich with wonderful lore."

Sydney stopped mid-bite. Quietly, she asked, "Are you saying that you'd like to stay for awhile after we find the Staff?"

"Not exactly. I just think it would be interesting to see what history is like here."

Not knowing what else to say, Sydney teased, "What about missing home? And Karen?"

What she really meant was: What about me? What would I do without you, even for a little while?

For once, Nigel answered the words she said and didn't seem to hear the ones she didn't. "I'm not curious enough to stay, believe me, Sydney. I'd much rather be sitting at home, with my lamp, reading about ancient civilizations. My apartment's not much right now, but at least it's home." He smiled a devilish smile. "And what would you do without me?"

Maybe he had heard her unspoken words after all.

Remembering her talk with Mala, Sydney replied, "I honestly don't know."

Nigel seemed to think this was a joke and chuckled. She was tempted to go with it and smile, but she didn't. Instead, she sat up and looked into his eyes, putting her hand on his arm.

"Nigel, I'm serious. I don't know what I'd do without you. You make the relic hunts easier because of your knowledge, and you certainly make my teaching easier."

He looked away. "You don't have to say that, Sydney."

"Yes, I do. I don't say it enough. I just want you to know."

"Thanks." He still didn't look at her, but she could tell he was touched by the tone of his voice.

To lighten the mood, Sydney squeezed his arm and said, "Now, don't let what I said go to your head. I still want you to be able to stand upright...sort of."

He finally faced her, smiling shyly. "I'll try not to."

"All right. Hurry up and eat those apples. The Staff is calling."

He snorted. "It's waited this long, it can bloody well wait five more minutes."

After they finished their apples, they picked up and headed to the forest. It took them most of the day to reach it. They made camp right outside, deciding to brave it first thing in the morning.

This time, the dream did not surprise Sydney. When she opened her eyes, she knew that it was in her mind and that she was still curled up beside Nigel fast asleep.

_Slowly, she sat up, watching the trees. The globe that lay on her left was out, but still dim light was coming from somwhere. She could not see the moon, so she assumed it was part of the dream._

_"Karolyne?" she called softly and waited._

_It seemed like she waited a long time before the woman in white materialized before her._

_"Sydney." She was only a few feet away, but Sydney could barely hear her._

_"You've come to warn me again?" Sydney asked._

_"Yes. My time guarding the Staff grows short. It is time to pass the task onto another--the one they call Theri. She will care for it well."_

_"I believe you."_

_Karolyne came close and sat down near Sydney. She was close enough to touch, and the relic hunter wondered what the Rainmaker would feel like. Would she be flesh and blood? Could Sydney really touch her at all?_

_"To this end, I am allowed to warn you."_

_"Yes," Sydney replied. "I noticed. Thanks for the heads up about the vines, by the way. I barely woke in time."_

_"This is the last time I will come to you until you find my Staff. Know that it is where you seek and that you are on the right path..."_

_"That's a relief."_

_"Know also that others come. They wish to kill you and take the Staff for themselves."_

_"Bouran and company," Sydney hissed._

_"I do not know their names, but I know they are not far behind. They will reach this forest by nightfall tomorrow."_

_"Nightfall tomorrow. That doesn't give us much time."_

_The apparition leaned over and put her hand on Sydney's arm. She felt real, but her touch tingled against Sydney's skin._

_"Be careful, Sydney. Without you, the Staff will never reach its rightful guardian, and I will never be allowed to rest."_

_"I will," Sydney promised, but she was talking to empty air. The Rainmaker had vanished.  
_


	9. Chapter 9

The next day started out overcast and a little chilly. It was strange to see clouds in the sky after so many weeks with only sunshine. Nigel kept looking at the sky anxiously, and Sydney knew he was afraid it would rain. Sydney thought back to their conversation the day before. Nigel was right about one thing. Rain here could bring anything.

The woods, when they entered, were gloomy. The trees were tall, dark evergreens that blocked out much of the light. Even though there was a path, the tops of the trees on either side touched, forming a canopy. The path was so narrow that the two of them could just barely walk side by side. It was quiet and spooky and, Sydney admitted to herself, she was glad she wasn't alone.

Though Nigel didn't say anything, Sydney could tell he was even more nervous than she was. He jumped at every sound and his body, rigid and tense, was tipped slightly towards her. Whenever Nigel was frightened, he tended to stick to her like the proverbial glue.

After awhile, Nigel commented, "It's like every _Friday the 13th_ movie I've ever seen."

"They're just trees, Nigel," Sydney answered, though her thoughts had been running in similar directions.

"I'm still not looking forward to sleeping in them. In fact, I don't even like walking in them much."

"We'll be fine. Even if there is something...unnatural here, we'll handle it."

"Before or after it bites off our heads?"

"Nigel. It. Will. Be. Fine."

"I hope you're right, Syd, but something feels off."

"Well, we are walking through forests that have survived being blasted with some sort of destructive force and just may have residual magic or mutant beasts roaming them. Of course things feel off."

He frowned at her. "Thank you for that very detailed explanation. I feel so much better now."

"Glad I could help."

He made a face, and she was tempted to tell him his face could freeze that way.

The thought made her smile, and Nigel said, "I'm glad thoughts of our certain death amuse you."

"Oh, Nigel. Everything will work out. Just go with the flow."

"That's your answer for everything, isn't it?"

"Well, it usu...," Sydney stopped short and raised her arm. "Shhh. Listen."

She had heard something but she wasn't sure what because it hadn't been very loud. In fact, it was such a slight noise, she felt it more than heard it.

Nigel stopped immediately and didn't even twitch. He was so still he could have been a statue.

Sydney listened intently for almost a minute before she heard the noise again. She saw in Nigel's eyes the he had heard it this time too.

"Sydney?" he whispered.

"Shhh," she told him again.

They listened as the cracking and snapping of branches got closer and closer. Nigel looked ready to bolt, and Sydney was considering flight herself.

She touched his arm gently, and he read her signal as she knew he would. The two of them crouched low and moved into the trees by the side of the trail. Even though it was early morning, it was like twilight among the trees. Sydney took her knife out of her boot and sank to the ground, hauling Nigel with her. He grunted, but settled, burrowing into years' worth of tree droppings. Sydney did the same, hiding behind brush and lifting her head only enough to be able to see the road.

They waited tensely as the noises approached. The snapping got closer, and it was easy to tell that whatever was coming was large.

"I'm really beginning to hate this reality," Sydney heard Nigel breathe.

Though his voice was barely audible, Sydney reached over and clamped her hand over Nigel's mouth. He looked affronted at this, especially when she put her finger to her own lips.

The source of the noise finally lumbered into view, coming through the trees and onto the path. It was the biggest bear Sydney had ever seen. It made a grizzly bear look like a kitten in comparison. Sydney saw Nigel's eyes go wide and round, and she was sure she looked slightly startled herself.

The beast stopped and stood on hind legs as it sniffed the air. Sydney took a good long look at it and hoped it wouldn't discover her and Nigel because she knew, this time, fight or flight, they would probably lose.

After several agonizing seconds, the creature dropped back down on all four feet and ambled off down the path. It was so wide that branches snapped on either side of it.

Sydney and Nigel waited until it was out of sight and they could not hear its passage anymore before breathing sighs of relief. Sydney took her hand from Nigel's mouth and slowly got to her feet before helping him up as well.

"Do you think it will come back?" Nigel asked.

"It seemed to be going somewhere, so I don't think so," Sydney said as she brushed dirt and leaves off the front of her black vest.

"That was the biggest bear I've ever seen. I wonder if it's natural for this world or whether it's mutant."

"I don't know, Nigel. I'm just glad it didn't decide to have a Sydney snack."

"Or Nigel."

"Him too."

Nigel pushed out onto the path and continued, "I don't know if I like the fact that we're going to be following that thing."

Sydney hoisted her bow, pack, and quiver onto her back and followed. "I don't see how we have much of a choice. Do you?"

Nigel eyed the thick trees on either side. Besides the path the beast had broken through, they seemed inpenetrable. Without a word, he started trudging forward. Sydney had to hurry to catch up and match his pace.

As the day wore on, the forest grew noticeably gloomier. Plus, it felt as if someone were watching them. Sydney had to keep fighting the urge to look over her shoulder. Like Nigel, though she wouldn't admit it, she would be glad to find the relic and get back to their own reality. The limited interaction they had with magic there was enough for her.

They followed the beast's tracks for most of the day before the tracks meandered off into the woods. Sydney pointed out the broken branches that marked its passage. She hoped there weren't too many like it in their journey ahead.

Taking out the map again, she said, "We should soon be reaching a river or a stream. We'll need to cross over to the other side."

"Great, I should have brought my trunks."

The river, when they reached it, was not what Sydney had been expecting. From Yorn's words, she pictured a small and quiet stream. In reality, the river was about waist deep and it rushed by, dragging debris in its wake.

"How are we supposed to cross that?" Nigel squeaked.

"Very carefully."

Sydney thought a moment, then got an idea. She dropped her things to the ground and dug through her pack for her crossbow.

"What are you doing?"

"I think I've got a way to make it a little safer to cross."

Crouching, Sydney cocked her crossbow and attached a rope to the bolt. Aiming at what would be chest level, she shot across the stream, imbedding the bolt in a tree on the other side. She pulled the rope sharply to make sure it would hold, then tied her end to a nearby trunk.

"Lifeline," Nigel said quietly in understanding.

"Exactly."

Sydney flung her things over the rope to keep them dry and waded out into the river. The water was cold and bit at her, even through her pants. The current was also as strong as she expected. It pulled at her legs.

"Careful, Nigel," she said behind her.

When she was in the middle of the stream and fighting to remain upright, she felt the rope move, indicating that Nigel was following behind her.

Sydney was glad to reach the far side. Gratefully, she pulled herself from the water. Goosebumps burst out onto her arms and she began to shiver.

"I hate being cold."

Wearily, she dropped her stuff in the middle of the path and turned to watch Nigel's progress. Her associate seemed to be having even more trouble than she had. He was drenched even above the water line, his shirt clinging to him like a second skin. Even his hair was plastered to his head.

"Nige?"

"I'm okay, Syd."

His progress was slow and unsteady, and he swayed with the push of the water against his legs. Sydney could see that his knuckles were white where they held onto his pack and bedroll, which were slung over the rope. Sydney found herself holding her breath every time Nigel stumbled.

Then, when Nigel was just past the middle of the stream, where the current was strongest, it happened. He stumbled and his hands slipped. Nigel's body twisted, and he went down.

"Nigel!" Sydney screamed as the water grabbed him and flung him from the line.

He didn't answer her as the river pulled him under. Struggling, he fought to the surface and took a breath before it pulled him under once more and started sweeping him away from Sydney.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit," she swore, wondering if she could swim strongly enough to beat the river and snatch Nigel back from its clutches.

It only took her a split second to decide chasing him along the bank would be faster. The trees came close to the river, but, in most places, there was enough room for a small body to slip between. Sydney started off as fast as she could, ducking branches that grabbed at her and using others to keep from falling on her butt.

She hadn't gone far before her heart jumped in relief. Nigel had managed to grab onto one of the lower hanging branches, and he was clinging to it for dear life.

"Hang on, Nigel."

Luckily, the tree the branch sprang from was on Sydney's side of the river. It also looked like it could hold her.

"Can you stand?"

"The water's too deep here," he answered. His voice sounded thin and scared.

"Don't worry. I'm coming to get you."

"Hurry. I can't hold on much longer."

Without hesitation, Sydney crawled out onto the branch. It moved crazily under her weight, but Nigel managed to keep holding on. She inched out slowly, afraid of jarring him loose.

Sydney reached him without mishap and wrapped her legs tightly around the branch. It creaked ominously when she bent down to grab Nigel's hands in hers. As she lifted her friend from the water, she prayed the branch wouldn't break.

"Sydney," he gasped.

"It's all right now. Don't talk. Hold on to me."

As the two of them were carefully making their way back towards the bank, Sydney was unimpressed to see Nigel's pack and bedroll flowing down the river beneath them and out of sight.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit," she breathed again.

"What is it?"

"I'll tell you when we get back to the bank."

He accepted this and allowed her to draw him back until they were both lying in the mud, safe on the bank.

They lay there in silence for awhile before Sydney asked, "You okay?"

"Yes," he said, still sounding breathless, "but I'm wet and cold."

Sydney couldn't wait to peel off her clothes either. At least she had something dry to put on. Poor Nigel.

"Nigel, I have some bad news..."

XXX

That night, they had to have a fire. Nigel was chilled to the bone, and all of his clothes were travelling on their way to who knew where. They followed the river back to the path, and then Sydney started clearing a place to make a campfire. The woods were damp, unlike the rest of Telurra, but she was still careful to make sure her fire was controlled.

Once that was done, she changed into her nightclothes and made Nigel strip down to his underwear. Despite his protests, she made him wear her other nightdress while his clothes dried in front of the fire. When it came time to sleep, they curled up in the same bedroll. Neither of them complained because, despite the fire, they were chilled all the way through.

By morning, Sydney was feeling toasty warm. In fact, the only reason she didn't sigh and go back to sleep was that, if Karolyne was right, their pursuers would have reached the forest sometime around the time Nigel was swept away.

This thought stirred Sydney and, after a few moments, she untangled herself from Nigel and slipped out of the bedroll. Because she was afraid that he wouldn't be able to fight off a cold without enough sleep, she packed up their things before waking him. With over half of them gone, it didn't take very long.

"What's for breakfast?" he asked sleepily.

"I see your dip yesterday has made you no worse for wear."

"Well, I'll be glad to get out of this nightshirt. I feel bloody ridiculous."

"It's only fair. If I have to wear lace, so should you."

He sighed in exasperation. "In case it's slipped your notice, Sydney, I am the man of this team."

"No," she said, eyeing him up with pretend frankness, "it hasn't."

"Stop teasing me, Sydney. One of these times, I'm going to take you seriously, and then we'll both be in trouble."

Once more, her thoughts flashed to a picture of Nigel reaching out and untying her shirt. She flushed as she wished she knew where the thought came from.

She turned away to roll up the bedroll, hiding the blush. "Is it all right if you carry my pack and bedroll? It will leave my hands free for my knife, sword, and bow."

"What about your crossbow?"

"We should be all right without it, I think."

Nigel nodded, then went into the trees to get changed and take care of morning business. While he was gone, Sydney wondered if she should tell him about the hunters on their trail. She decided not to because then she'd have to tell him she was receiving ghostly visits. She didn't want him to think this place was driving her crazy.

When he reappeared, Nigel looked more like himself. His clothes were neat, though she noticed his shirt still wasn't tucked in, and his bangs were sticking up in all directions.

"Better?" she asked.

"Much, thanks."

The trees were a little thinner on this side of the stream and the trail was fainter. The path and the stream ran side by side, though the path sloped up gently while the stream stayed below.

"It's getting pretty high, stay back from the edge," Sydney warned Nigel.

"I'm not stupid, you know," he quipped.

"No, just a tad clumsy."

He made a face at her, but he didn't really look annoyed. He actually looked pretty chipper for someone who'd lost all his clothes and possessions.

Somewhere around noon, Sydney and Nigel were walking along when she heard the snap of branches. She grabbed Nigel's arm, and he froze. She knew he was thinking of the large bear they had encountered before. The problem this time was that they had nowhere to hide.

After listening for a moment, Sydney realized that she wasn't hearing the tread of a large beast but the passage of humans. With a scowl, she dropped her bow and quiver and drew her sword.

"Sydney, what is it?"

"Company."

Nigel dropped the bag and bedroll on the ground as well. Though he had no weapons, he looked ready to give Sydney all the help he could. God love him, she thought. There was no one else she'd rather give her back to, even if fighting wasn't his forte.

The noises came closer and Sydney could tell there were at least three people. Bouran's Staff hunters. She had been afraid they would catch up.

"It's our old friends," Sydney commented seconds before the four they'd fought at Mala's became visible.

"Hello, Bouran," Sydney said.

"Sydney," he answered, "you didn't think we wouldn't come after you. We want the Staff."

"Go to hell." She jumped forward, attacking instead of letting them take the lead.

She jumped for the white haired man first. Nigel subtly moved out of the way. In the last fight, the group had learned Sydney was the real physical threat, so as she attacked, the others moved forward as well. Sydney watched Nigel just long enough to note he'd moved back to the trees before giving her whole attention over to her enemies.

The clang of her sword against her opponent's broke the stillness of the day. She pushed his blade away and twirled to kick out at Bouran. The woman made a slash, and Sydney barely managed to miss it by twisting sideways and away.

"Syd, look out," Nigel called.

She turned to see the other young man close behind her. This time, her head kick hit home, and once more she felled him like a tree. He should have learned his lesson about staying away from her feet during their previous fight.

Hearing something behind her, Sydney did a backflip out of the way. The sound of a blade slicing air filled the place she had just been standing.

She then crouched and swept out her leg, tripping the woman who had been about to take advantage of the opening Sydney's flip had left. Coming up, she managed to avoid Bouran's blade and connect once more with the white haired, bearded man. They exchanged a few strokes before she ducked away again underneath Bouran's sword to elbow him in the stomach and punch him in the chin. Bouran's sword clumped to the earth, and he stumbled.

The woman was getting up, so Sydney aimed a kick at her face. She fell back, holding her nose and coming precariously close to the edge.

Sydney whirled to punch Bouran hard on the jaw and then kick him in the backside when he stumbled.

This time when she turned, she saw the white haired man make a lunge at her. Instead of meeting it, she avoided it, and he went right by her. His momentum brought him to the edge of the drop-off. With a growl, he turned, putting a little too much weight on his back leg and a ledge that was already crumbling.

He, Bouran, and the woman were all there, near the edge, when the ground began to give way. They scrambled but went down amid a shower of dirt and stones and half of the path.

Sydney winced and looked away. She didn't even want to look over the edge to see what happened. Instead, she checked to make sure the last young man was still unconscious, then she grabbed their gear. It had almost been lost with the falling debris.

"Let's go."

She led Nigel into the trees and not along the path, but he didn't argue. He'd been with her long enough to know there was a time and place.

XXX

Sydney lost track of how long they had moved through the trees, but she didn't want to risk going back to the path. She knew they'd soon be out of the forest and be able to use the sun for their reckoning.

They spent the night huddled together in the bedroll under a camouflaging cover of branches that Sydney made for them. In the morning, they got up early and kept moving.

It was with relief that they got back out into sunshine again. It was almost like deja vu and their first glimpse of the wounded lands. Only this time, things didn't look so beautiful or perfect. The grass was just grass, not a startling green, and the flowers were few and far between. The ominous feeling remained, however.

"Do you think they survived?" Nigel asked.

"I don't know. I don't want to take too many chances. We're getting close to the relic."

Nigel accepted this quietly as he shaded his eyes and looked around. Like Sydney, he was probably wondering what would be coming ahead. Because journeying through the Wounded Lands was different each time you went through them, Yorn had only been able to give them a guide to directions and not the dangers.

Sydney felt an unfamiliar twinge of fear as she contemplated the fact that almost no one had made it this far and lived. In defiance of the feeling, she straightened her shoulders and strode out into whatever was waiting.

"No turning back now, huh, Syd?" Nigel said quietly.

"No turning back," she affirmed.

He sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Give me a minute."

Though she was anxious to get moving, she stopped and glanced at him. He was staring at the country ahead, his face and eyes very serious, his errant bangs hanging down over his forehead.

"All right, I'm ready. Bring on the monsters."

"Not too many monsters, I hope," Sydney replied as the two of them walked side by side.

The land wasn't only less green and beautiful than the meadows in front of the castle, it also showed occasional deep scars and distant ruins. Some places, the dirt was so churned up that it looked like some beast had chewed it. Whole chunks were gone from some hillsides. That wasn't even mentioning the gravestones.

At first, Sydney didn't know what they were. It was only after the third cluster piqued her interest that she went over to examine them. They were made of simple stone and shaped in small pillars with writing on them. Though Sydney couldn't read them, the language looked familiar.

"What do you make of this, Nigel?" she asked, dropping to her knees in front of the nearest.

Nigel came over and studied the stone carefully. He was silent for several moments before saying in surprise, "I can read this."

She had thought he might be able to. "So, what's it say?"

Nigel read silently to himself before his eyes turned sad. "It's an epitaph."

Sydney brought a finger up to trace over the letters. "The ones who were buried before there was no one left to bury the dead."

Nigel nodded and stood, his face pensive. Unwilling to disturb his thoughts, Sydney just moved on.

The rest of the day was quiet. They saw no sign of pursuers and the land mercifully left them alone. On unspoken agreement, the two of them avoided the ruins. Who knew what torutured spirits could be lurking in skeletal remains of a wounded land? Sydney decided this time she really didn't want to find out.

They made their camp by a stream, a lot smaller and calmer than the one that had tried to claim Nigel, and went to bed early. Sydney was sure fear of pursuers would keep her awake, but once she had snuggled in next to Nigel, she was out like a light.

XXX

"Sydney...Sydney!" Nigel's urgent whisper called Sydney from sleep. She tried to ignore it, but it was very insistent. A sharp poke to the stomach made her let out a growl and open her eyes. If he did that again, she was going to break his fin...

The thought was left unfinished as complete blackness met her eyes. Quickly, she closed and opened them several times rapidly. Things remained just as dark.

"Nigel, did you turn out the lights?"

She heard her partner breathe a sigh of relief. He was so close to her, his breath tickled her cheek. "Sydney, thank God you're awake."

"I can't see."

"Neither can I."

At least the problem wasn't with her. "Do you know when this happened?"

"No." He had a slight edge of panic in his voice. "I just woke up and it was like this. The globe won't even come on."

"What?" she asked, then ordered, "Globe, light."

Nothing happened.

"Sydney..."

"Calm down, Nigel. It's going to be all right."

"How?"

"Have I ever let you down before?"

There was a pause, then a soft, "No."

Good, she thought, his trust in her would keep him calm. Well, at least semi-calm. That would give her time to think--because she had absolutely no idea what to do.

After a moment, she said, "The first thing to do is see if it's a local phenomenon. We'll take our things and crawl for aways until we see if we can find light or normal night. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Do you know where the light globe is?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, "it was over here."

Sydney almost squeaked in surprise as Nigel's questing hand found an intimate part of her in the darkness. She started and said wryly, "Wrong globe."

Nigel did squeak and snatched his had away. Sydney could imagine the blush racing over his face and was surprised it didn't cut through the darkness.

"Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it. I won't break your hand...not this time. Are you sure the globe was on my side?"

"Quite sure."

"You're not just saying that because you wanted to feel me up?"

"Sydney!"

"Just asking," she said lightly, suddenly feeling better. "Here, let me see if I can find it."

She turned on her side with her back to Nigel and started feeling along the grass. Her hand bumped against something which rolled.

"Here it is."

She undid the side of their bedroll and slipped out. By touch, she and Nigel managed to gather their few belongings. Using their last piece of rope, Sydney tied the two of them together. They inched along on their hands and knees, Sydney occasionally getting run over by Nigel if she stopped suddenly.

They had been going like that for awhile when Nigel commented, "We're going downhill."

"I noticed."

"Do we want to be going downhill?"

"I want to go in any damn direction that will lead us out of the darkness."

"Right." The, after a few more minutes, "What will happen if the darkness never ends?"

"It's got to end sometime."

"But will we reach the end of it?"

"Do we have a choice but to try?"

He didn't have an answer for this, and they crawled along in silence once more.

Sydney was contemplating the fact that she felt as if she had been struck blind when her right hand came down on nothing but air. Overbalancing, Sydney fell forward, sliding down a steep incline. She slid several feet before suddenly stopping short and dangling over a drop of unknown depth.

"Nigel?"

"I've got you, Sydney." His voice sounded strained.

"I'm dangling off the edge of something. If you can't hold me, let me go. I don't want to take you with me."

"Are you kidding?" he said lightly, "Then who would get me out of here? If you go up, I go up. If you go down, I go down."

"Don't be stubborn, Nigel."

"Look who's talking...Can you get a grip at all?"

"My hands are in some pretty unstable dirt, and my feet can't feel anything at all."

"I think I can pull you up," he grunted, "but I'm going to need your help."

"I'll do what I can."

She felt the rope jerk as Nigel started to pull backwards. Sydney buried her hands in the dirt and pushed, trying to help. Wet earth fell away under her fingers, but she managed to inch upwards. Slowly, as she pushed and Nigel pulled, Sydney made her way towards him.

Nigel's arms on hers as she came over the top was one of the nicest things she'd ever felt. Both of them lay on the ground panting and spent for several minutes before Sydney said a heartfelt, "Thanks."

"Like I said," Sydney could hear the devil in his voice, "you're my way out of here."

After that, the two of them were more careful. Their progress had been slow before, but now it was a snail's pace. They crawled that way for hours. The darkness was unrelenting. It seemed that it was all that was and all that had ever had been or would be. If Nigel hadn't been with her, Sydney thought she might have gone crazy.

Without warning, something stabbed into Sydney's eyes. She threw her hands up and let out a cry before realizing that it was light.

"Syd?" Nigel's voice was anxious and frightened.

"I'm all right, Nigel," she said, adding to herself, if you don't count these spots I'm seeing.

"What's going on?"

"I found the light. Come ahead slowly and with your eyes closed. It's going to take a little while for them to adjust."

She took her own advice and lay down on the ground on her stomach. She heard Nigel shuffling up beside her and his "oomph" as he too settled on the ground.

They lay there in silence as their eyes adjusted, and Sydney wondered how many people the blanket of darkness had killed. Yorn hadn't mentioned it, so she assumed he had never experienced it.

"My eyes aren't hurting through my lids now," Nigel commented eventually, "Do you think it's safe to open them?"

"Try, but slowly."

She suited actions to words as she too opened her eyes to slits. The sun was bright but no longer burned. Blinking, she opened her eyes the rest of the way, though she left them in a squint.

"Nigel?"

"I've never been so happy to see the sun in all my life."

"Me either," Sydney admitted, sitting up to see where they were and whether they were still heading in the right direction. "But I think we might be a little off course."

"How far do you think?"

"I don't know. Let's have a rest and some lunch while we try to get our bearings."

The countryside around them had changed for the worse. The grass and trees were brown and dead, and it looked like it would be impossible for anything to grow. The land was as dead as its people. Sydney hoped that once they got pointed in the right direction again, things would be more alive. If not, it was going to be hard to find food.

As they were eating, Sydney looked behind her and saw a wall of black stretching from the ground up as far as the eye could see. It was creepy, and knowing they and spent so much time in there didn't make it any better. She turned her back on it again, determined to think only on what lay ahead.

They were getting close now.


	10. Chapter 10

After their meal, using the sun as guidance, the two of them headed out in the direction Karolyne had confirmed for Sydney. The grass crackled under their feet, and the silence made by lack of birds or small animals was almost deafening.

As they moved east, though, Sydney was relieved to see green start to appear among the brown. It was slight at first, but as they went on the green got more and more common. Eventually, they even started to see birds--normal sized ones--in the sky.

"You know," Nigel commented at one point, "If Yorn were here, he'd probably be better able to guess at the location of the ruins. He's lived here all of his life, he knows the Wounded Lands, and he's heard all the stories."

"Well," Sydney answered absently, "It's probably a good thing he's not."

"Why's that?"

"The bedroll would be too crowded."

Nigel unexpectedly laughed at this, lightening the sombre mood that surrounded them. The laugh made Sydney grin at him, delighted that he hadn't lost his sense of humour.

From then on, the days went by slowly. Every day, Sydney and Nigel waited for something strange to happen, but nothing did. As time wore on, it made them edgier and edgier. They found themselves arguing and snapping more than usual. For the first time, Sydney thought it might be easier without Nigel. Immediately, she stomped out the thought, knowing it had been born of frustration.

And still they went on, facing nothing more than sore feet and sharp words. Waiting seemed almost worse than anything that could happen. Four days went by, and then five. It seemed the only time they weren't silent or arguing was when they were lying close together, barely touching, in companionable silence, with the moonlight softly touching their faces.

On the sixth day, she woke feeling cheerful. For the first time in days, she didn't feel like growling at Nigel to finish getting ready and roll up the bedroll. As a matter of fact, while he was gone for his morning communion with a tree, she rolled it up herself.

Sydney was even whistling to herself when she heard Nigel frantically call her name. All hints of a good mood vanished, and Sydney grabbed her sword and knife before running in the direction of the cry.

When she got to the cluster of trees Nigel had disappeared behind, she saw him. He was sitting, huddled, in something that looked like a cross between a prison cell and a giant upright scallop shell. His face was pale, but, other than that, he looked to be in good condition.

"Nigel?"

"I was just standing here," he said, "doing up my pants, when this thing snapped shut around me, like some sort of giant bear trap or something."

"Looks more like some kind of circus jail cell to me," Sydney said thoughtfully, studying the curved, shiny bars. "I wonder what it's made of."

"Can we worry about that after I'm out?"

Sydney ran her hand lightly over the strange material. It felt something like a cross between bone and smooth metal.

"I wonder if these traps were set for people. They're the right size."

"Sydney!"

She looked at him. "Have you tried squeezing through the bars?"

"I may be svelte, but I'm not that svelte."

Sydney eyed the bars, and then eyed Nigel. It would be pretty close. She didn't think she could squeeze through, and Nigel was about her size.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

He sighed and got to his feet. The cage was small and he had to hunch over to stand. If he hadn't been bent over when the trap snapped shut, he might have lost his head.

Nigel turned sideways and wedged himself between the bars, leading with his left arm. He grunted softly and pushed, but he got less than halfway through.

"Hmnn...Maybe if you were smeared in grease."

He breathed in and tried to wriggle out further. It didn't seem to be working. Sydney watched intently, hoping that he didn't break anything.

After a few minutes, he wiggled the other way and back into his cage. Then, he took a big, noisy breath.

"I don't..." he breathed loudly again, "think it's going...to work...Sydney."

"I think you're right." She eyed the bars again. "If we could figure out their purpose, maybe we could figure out how to open them."

"What if their purpose is to hold people here until they die of hunger or exposure?"

Sydney didn't even want to think about the fact that the cage might be magically sealed and impossible to get Nigel out of.

Instead, she said, "If the object was to kill you, you'd probably be dead already. The trap must just be to hold you until someone..."

"Or something."

"...could come and get you out."

"But what if that someone has the only key? Chances are he's been dead for hundreds of years!" His voice started to sound slightly panicked.

Once more, Sydney felt along the bars. "Don't worry, Nigel. I'll find out how to open it."

"Please hurry."

She ignored this as she knelt to study the ground where the bars originated. She wondered if she might be able to dig beneath them and whether they joined at the bottom as they did at the top. Almost immediately, she dismissed the thought of digging. No one who went to the trouble of making a cage like this would make it so easy to escape.

Sydney also wanted to get a good look at the top to see if its joining was seamless. She stood and positioned herself between the tree trunk and the bars. Using the rough surface of the one for leverage, she climbed the smooth surface of the other. At the top, she balanced gracefully, her boots against the bark as an anchor.

Studying how the bars came together, she was relieved to see that they joined with some kind of interlocking technology rather than seamless magic. Handmade puzzle traps she could handle. They always had some kind of release mechanism. She just had to find it.

"Good news, Nigel," she said, sliding to the ground. "It's mechanical, not magical."

"Well, that's something, at least," he sighed, sitting back on the ground.

Sydney got to work looking, and feeling, for anything that could be the trigger to open the cage. She went around it, squeezing through where it almost touched the tree, taking care not to miss an inch of it on her quest.

When she was sure she had covered every possible bit of cage, she growled in frustration. "Nothing."

She glanced at Nigel, then quickly looked away, not wanting to see the disappointment in his face.

"Well," he said with false cheer, "it's got to be nearby. How about the tree?"

Actually, that thought wasn't half bad. Sydney didn't know why she didn't think of it herself. she gave him her best smile, hoping it would be reassuring, before feeling her way across the bark. The front of the tree revealed nothing, not really surprising her because it was within touching distance of the cage. Undeterred, she started on the other side. She was rewarded when her questing fingers discovered a bump that didn't feel like the rest of the bark.

"I think I've found it."

Nigel sat forward, his eyes getting a little brighter. Mentally crossing her fingers, Sydney pushed on the lump. A sigh escaped her as she heard a faint click, and the bars unlocked and started sinking back into the earth.

"See, Nigel? What did I tell you? Nothing to worry about."

Nigel sprang to his feet and out of the retreating cage, giving her a smile of thanks, which she returned.

They walked back to their camp in silence, but once they arrived, Nigel said, "I'm sorry I've been so grumpy the last couple of days. I've just been feeling on edge."

"Don't worry about it. I've been a little cranky myself. I'll be glad to just get the Staff and get out of here."

"If we don't get killed first." His words were an echo of what he'd been saying all along, but this time his voice was cheerful.

"That's what I love about you, Nigel," she said, throwing bow and quiver over her shoulder. "Your optimism."

"Why, thank you, Syd," he said with mock seriousness, and all the unpleasantness of the last few days was forgiven.

Sydney's good mood returned, and she spent most of the day bringing up topics and then listening in amusement as Nigel chattered on, displaying remarkable reserves of knowledge on just about everything.

It was late in the afternoon when Nigel stopped mid-stream and groaned.

"What is it?" she asked, taking her gaze from his face.

"Someone up there is laughing at us." He sounded defeated as he pointed into the distance.

Besides making sure they were headed in the right general direction, Sydney hadn't really been paying attention to the road ahead. What she saw now made her mouth open in shock.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"I think so."

Ahead of them was a wide, gaping hole that looked as if some giant hand had scooped a chunk out of the earth. It stretched from horizon to horizon, was at least one hundred feet across, and even from where they were they could see it was a dizzying distance deep.

They approached it cautiously, Nigel asking, "What are we going to do now?"

"There has to be some way to cross it," Sydney replied thoughtfully, getting close enough to look over the edge. She wasn't even afraid of heights, and it made her stomach flip over.

"What if the hole was blown out in the war?" he protested from where he had hung well back.

That was a possibility, but Sydney didn't like the thought of going around the hole. She had no idea how far it stretched or how long the journey around would take. Going down might be a possibility. She got down on her hands and knees and leaned over the side.

"What are you doing?"

Sydney ignored Nigel's alarmed squeak and tested the side to see how stable it was. Dirt crumbled under her hand, and she frowned. Suddenly, something brushed against her back and she started, almost pitching forward into the seemingly endless pit in front of her. The thing touching her grabbed ahold of the back of her shirt tightly and hauled her away from the edge. She sprawled backwards in an uncharacteristically ungraceful heap. Anger lanced through her as she saw the all too characteristic sheepish look on Nigel's face.

"Nigel!"

"I'm sorry; I'm sorry," he hurried to say. "I was afraid you were going to fall."

"I almost did, with your help." She got to her feet, brushing the dirt from her clothes with annoyance.

His face paled, and he whispered again, "I'm sorry."

He looked so scared and sick to his stomach that Sydney's anger drained away. What would she have felt seeing him leaning over a deadly precipice? Given his clumsiness, she'd probably have done the same thing, rushed forward to grab him. And then, if that was the thing that almost tumbled him over the edge...

"It's okay, Nige. No harm done." She even managed to offer him a smile. He didn't smile back.

Sydney went over and put her arm gently around his shoulders. Then, she gave him a firm squeeze.

"I'm sorry I frightened you. I just wanted to know if the sides are stable enough to climb down. They're not."

"I...I almost knocked you over." She could hear the horror in his voice.

"I'm fine," she said firmly. "How many pits have you seen me fall into? It takes more than a little hole in the earth to get the best of Sydney Fox. If that's the way I was going to die, it would have happened long ago."

He still looked so shaken that she gave him another squeeze before releasing him. "Now, come on, we've got to find a way over this thing."

"I don't know if there's a way across," he said, turning his mind to the matter at hand.

"Of course there is. There's always a way across. But I think jumping is out of the question."

"Maybe if I were a ten foot tall kangaroo."

Sydney was pleased to hear his sense of humour was coming back.

She looked out over the huge barrier, studying it intently. There were no visible bridges or narrowings. She knew in her heart that there had to be a way over. If not, Karolyne would have warned her on one of her visits.

She was concentrating hard and was surprised when Nigel put his hand gently on her arm.

"What is it?"

"Look over there."

She looked the way he was pointing but only saw more of the big crater in the earth.

"What am I looking at?"

"See the birds?"

"The birds?"

She looked and did see birds flying just above the top of the chasm. They soared straight and then suddenly veered upwards. Sydney frowned.

"Do you think there's something there?"

"They are acting strangely."

Sydney followed the side of the chasm until she was in line with the place the birds changed their course. Once more, she got on her hands and knees and felt the side. Despite what her eyes were telling her, her fingers touched something solid. She ran her hands along it and discovered it was about four feet wide.

"Well?" Nigel asked, obviously seeing the surprise on her face.

"I think it's a bridge."

"A...what?"

"A bridge. You know, a structure going from one side of something to the other."

"There can't be a bridge. I don't see anything!"

"After all we've encountered here, an invisible bridge is beyond your comprehension?"

Nigel came a little closer to the edge and peeked over. "I don't think I can cross an invisible bridge."

Sydney shrugged this off. "Of course you can. I'll go first."

"Syd..." he sounded breathless.

"We'll be okay."

Without another word, she took a tentative step. When she didn't pitch forward into the chasm, she took another. Since the bridge was narrow and invisible, every step would have to be felt out before committed to. Plus, she wanted to make sure the whole thing didn't just stop short.

After making her way about five feet onto the bridge, carefully not looking down to see herself standing on air, she turned to see if Nigel was following. He hadn't taken a step, but when she stopped, he looked up from her feet to her face. She saw him swallow, then he took a small step forward, and then another.

And then he looked down. Sydney knew his fear of heights and wasn't at all surprised at the look of terror that went over his face.

"Don't look down, Nigel. Look at me," she said calmly.

"I can't...I can't do this."

"Yes, you can."

"No," he said firmly, shaking his head and preparing to step backwards.

"Nigel!" she said sharply, stopping his retreat.

"I can't breathe."

"It's all right. Close your eyes if you have to."

He gave her an incredulous, terror-filled look. Taking pity on him, Sydney went back and took his hand. It trembled in hers, so she gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"Trust me, Nigel." She looked him in the eye. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Yes." Once more, this question was answered without hesitation.

"Good. Close your eyes." To her relief, he did. "Breathe in. Breathe out. Better?"

"A little."

"Okay. Keep your eyes closed and keep hold of my hand. Can you do that?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"All right. I'm going to lead you across. We can do this. Just hold on to me. Don't let go. Forget about everything except for the feel of my hand in yours and the sound of my voice."

She waited for protests, but there were none. His face looked slightly green-tinged, and there were droplets of sweat on his brow.

"Now, the bridge is quite narrow, so stay as close to me as you can. Are you ready?"

He was silent, and for a moment, she was sure he was going to say no. But he didn't. His voice was faint as he said, "Yes."

"Good." She squeezed his hand again before taking a small step forward. Nigel moved with her. "So, Nigel, did I ever tell you about the time Stewie and I were both searching for the Throne of Tears?"

He shook his head, his eyes still tightly closed. Sydney once more felt her way forward, bringing him with her.

"Well, I had been hired by an elderly professor from Montreal. He wanted to hold it once before donating it to the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Stewie, on the other hand, got a tip from someone and decided to pick it up and sell it."

Word by word, step by step, they moved forward at a snail's pace. Sydney babbled on, telling Nigel how she had gotten revenge for Stewie's "Sweet Cheeks" brand by getting him arrested. With the rest of her mind, Sydney concentrated on not putting them over the invisible edge. At one point, she looked down and had to close her eyes at the dizzying view. She suddenly felt like she was falling and her heart flew up into her throat. She swallowed quickly, but didn't let the tone of her voice waver.

After the dizziness passed, Sydney opened her eyes again and stared ahead, still moving and still talking.

"...and the throne was beautiful," she concluded her story. "Of course, like a bad penny, Stewie showed up at that point, but I was able to 'convince' him to let the throne come home with me."

She glanced at Nigel. His hair was damp with sweat, and his hand gripped hers. Still, his breathing was even and he moved with her without protest. They weren't even half way across the chasm. Sydney searched her mind for something else to talk about.

"I'll be glad to get home, though for the life of me, I can't remember what my lecture was on the day we left. I guess I'll have to wing it. Maybe I'll assign an essay."

Nigel groaned, which was her first indication that he was listening to her. He was the one who usually ended up correcting the essays and exams. Sydney smiled slightly as she took another step forward.

As she continued talking, she gently caressed the back of Nigel's hand with her thumb, hoping it was comforting. "I think I'll be so glad to be home, I might just go around hugging everyone in sight. That should shock my students..."

She reached out with her foot and almost stumbled when it came down on nothing but air. Freezing, she tottered and fought to keep her balance. She felt all of the blood draining from her face. Still, she kept on talking, mostly about their students, as she caught herself and moved her foot to search for the next step. She almost breathed a sigh of relief as her foot once more found the bridge, and she realized she had just moved too far to the left.

The trip across the chasm was excruciatingly slow, and Sydney's throat felt raw well before they reached the other side. When they finally reached earth again, Sydney was just finishing the tale of another adventure, this one the funniest she could think of. She even thought she saw Nigel's lip twitch when she looked at him.

As her foot touched solid ground, Sydney was tempted to bend down and kiss it. Instead, she gently led Nigel onto it, while at the same time wondering if their hands were now welded together.

"There you are, Nigel. Safe and sound, just as I promised."

He took a deep breath before blinking his eyes open. He looked at her for a moment, then down at the ground beneath his feet. His gaze travelled back to her face once more before he turned it towards the expanse they had just covered. He swayed and, if Sydney hadn't firmly planted her body against his, she was sure he would have fallen. Tremors of delayed reaction went through him, and she didn't even try to take her hand back.

"It's all right, Nigel. Everything's fine."

She watched as he wrestled with himself, pushing his emotions away. His face cleared and his hand stopped trembling. He gently took it from hers and flexed it.

"All right, then," he said, his eyes meeting hers. "Shall we go?"

There was some residual horror there, but Sydney ignored it. "Sure. This way."


	11. Chapter 11

"Sydney," Nigel asked, brushing damp bangs from his forehead, "are you sure we're going the right way?"

They were striding through almost waist deep grass, and the sky above them was threatening rain. It was such an unusual sight, that Sydney found herself continually looking up. She also remembered the conversation she and Nigel had had and wondered how dangerous the rain in the Wounded Lands might be. Where would they find shelter from falling swords or splattering acid?

"Look at the sun," she answered, just a little grumpily. The pending rain had made the air heavy and muggy, though the sun was slightly visible through the clouds. "You're better at this than I am."

"Sorry, Syd, it's just the rain clouds are making me nervous."

It was as if he had been reading her mind. "Yes, we should probably seek sh..."

She stopped in mid-sentence as a loud crack rent the air. Before she had time to even wonder what it was, Nigel's arms flew up in the air and he disappeared from view, falling downward.

"Nigel!"

Quickly, Sydney knelt and peered down the hole his body had made with its passing. "Nigel, are you all right?"

There was a grunt and then he answered, "I think so."

"How far did you fall?"

"Wait a minute." He was a shadowy form in the darkness because of the clouds overhead until he said, "Light."

Their globe light came on to show he wasn't just in a hole in the earth but a manmade room.

"I think I fell into someone's basement."

Curiosity made Sydney say, "Watch out, I'm coming down."

The hole was only about eight feet deep, and Sydney knew she could make it easily. There was a sturdy tree nearby that, with a bolt from her crossbow, would be able to help both her and Nigel get out. Turning around, Sydney lowered her legs down into the hole, dangled for a moment, then dropped beside her friend. She took a good look at him, searching for injuries. He was dusty, with his hair sticking up at all angles, but he looked relatively unharmed..

"You're sure you're all right?"

"Fine. Just bruised pride."

Accepting this, she looked around at their surroundings. It was a simple room with an earthen floor and rotted wooden walls backed by more earth. Antyhing else that might have been held in the room had disappeared long before. It was stark and musty.

"It's empty," Nigel said unnecessarily.

"Maybe it was used for food storage," Sydney mused, circling the room and studying what was left of the rough planks. "Nigel, do these seem older than what we saw in the castle's tunnels to you?"

"It's hard to tell in this crazy place."

"And look..." Sydney strode forward and peered between two boards. "I don't think this is earth. Nigel, bring the light."

He came over and raised the globe to give her a better view. The light revealed a passageway that had been boarded up. Sydney looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Nigel shrugged in response.

Something told Sydney she should go down the hidden corridor. She reached out and pulled the rotten wood from the hole. It didn't give more than a faint protest. Nigel had been right about one thing. With the special properties of the Wounded Lands, the passage could have been built the day before or five thousand years ago.

Sydney made the hole big enough to slip through and turned to motion Nigel to give her the light. Holding it so that it illuminated the way, she stepped into the corridor with Nigel close behind.

"Sydney..." the whisper floated to her down the corridor.

She stopped short and Nigel bumped into her back. She barely heard his quiet, "Oomph."

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" he asked crossly, straightening up.

"A voice."

"I didn't hear anything, Syd."

Sydney frowned and started walking again, this time slowly.

"Sydney..." It was so faint that she wasn't even sure she heard it, but it sounded like Karolyne. She hoped the Wounded Lands weren't driving her crazy. Either way, she knew she had to find out where the tunnel led.

The two of them had been walking in silence for several minutes when Sydney felt something drop onto her head. In annoyance, she reached up and ran fingers through her hair.

"Uh, Syd..."

She tuned to look at Nigel as something brushed her shoulder. She wondered if there were bats on the ceiling.

Nigel was looking up. Sydney sighed and did the same. The sigh caught in her throat and her skin began to crawl.

She shivered and whispered, "Roaches. I hate roaches."

The ceiling for as far as Sydney could see was covered in them. There were so many that they looked like a living, heaving blanket. They crawled over and around each other, fighting for position. Sydney was nauseous and creeped out at the same time. Every once in awhile, one would drop to the floor and start skittering away.

"Why did it have to be roaches?"

"Because this world hates us," Nigel replied, moving closer to her.

Sydney wondered briefly if the soft sound of the bugs moving over one another had been what she fancied as Karolyne calling her name. After all, she didn't think she had ever been awake when The Rainmaker appeared to her. Even so, she was loathe to turn back.

She shuddered and started moving forward again. She was even able to fight the impulse to throw both arms over her head so she'd get no more roaches in her hair. If Stewie could walk through roaches, then so could she--though she'd skip the little squishing dance he'd done.

"Do you think we should turn back?" Nigel asked.

"No." She shook her head. "Something tells me we need to find where this tunnel leads."

He sighed. "Who am I to argue?"

Sydney flashed him a smile over her shoulder, then braved her way through the cockroach-infested hallway.

"Sydney..."

Nigel stopped and clamped a hand on her arm. "Did you hear that?"

She looked at him with some relief. "Did you?"

He nodded. "I think someone is whispering your name."

"Karolyne."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The Rainmaker. She wants us to find the Staff."

"And you know this because?" He looked slightly incredulous.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said and moved on.

He hesitated, saying, "I might," before hurrying to catch up.

The corridor ended abruptly, stopping Sydney short. The strange thing was that, while the walls were earth, the dead end was hewn stone.

"Nigel, look at this."

He came forward to stand beside her. "Someone blocked it up?"

"Why would someone block up an innocent hallway? There must be something hidden here."

Nigel's face lit up. "Do you think it could be the Staff?"

"Maybe." She studied the wall thoughtfully. Some of the stones seemed to stand out from the rest, but at first she didn't know why. After a few seconds, she realized there was a subtle color difference in these stones from the ones around them. "Look at this. I think whoever put this here wanted whatever was behind it to be found eventually. There may be a trigger."

Nigel came up beside her and peered at the stones. Almost immediately, he said, "You mean the colors."

It was a statement not a question. She watched him as his wheels visibly started turning. Her element might have been instinct but, when it came to logic, Nigel outclassed her.

"I think they form some sort of pattern. It's all balanced...except this one. This one shouldn't be here...or there should be a similar one on this side," Nigel commented eventually.

"What does it mean?"

He reached forward and gently touched the stone. "We're supposed to press this one?"

Nothing happened.

Nigel shrugged. "Well, it was just a theory."

"Maybe not push it," Sydney tapped her lip with a finger, "but something...something..." She looked at the stone that should have shared the color of the one Nigel had pressed. "This one. This one's the key."

"Do we push?"

Sydney trailed long fingers over the stone. Where the others had a rough texture, this one was smooth except for a few nicks that were obviously deliberate.

"Hey, Nigel, feel this."

"Hmmn. Five parallel lines. The middle one seems to have a bump..."

He rubbed at the bump with his thumb. There was a grinding creak and part of the earth wall began to recede. As it pulled back, Sydney could see stone stairs leading into the darkness. Without hesitation, she started down. She was happy to see that the cockroaches didn't extend to the stairwell.

She heard Nigel behind her, his feet a little tentative where hers were sure.

"Be careful, the steps are a little uneven," she warned.

The steps went down deeper and deeper, twisting around. The dampness of them clung to Sydney's lungs and made her cough. Eventually, they reached the bottom, where they found themselves in a large chamber made of the same strange stone. The floor was colorfully tiled, with representations of the sun, clouds, rain, and snow. Sydney told the light globe to brighten so they could see the full glory of the room.

In the brighter light, they could see a small dais on the far side. On this dais, a large staff was standing, its wood dark and gleaming. Carvings travelled up and down its length. Like the floor, these were representations of different types of weather. It was beautiful. Sydney and Nigel took a step forward involuntarily. Finally, they had found it.

"They wanted this to be a tribute," a soft voice said behind them. "I don't think they realized that they trapped me here."

Sydney and Nigel whirled. Standing behind them, on the bottom step, was the woman Sydney had been seeing in her dreams. This time she looked as real as Nigel. Her light brown hair was done up in a neat braid and her white dress was pristine and flowed around her slight body. Sydney could see the freckles dusting her nose and the paleness of her skin. She looked into Karolyne's brown eyes and, more than ever before, was hit by the pain.

Nigel gave a squeak and stumbled backwards. He would have fallen if Sydney hadn't gripped him firmly.

"Hello, Karolyne," Sydney said calmly.

"Karolyne?" Nigel asked.

"Yes, Nigel. Meet The Rainmaker."

Karolyne smiled at him, though the smiled didn't reach her eyes. He shifted so that he was standing slightly behind Sydney and didn't return her smile.

"I've been waiting for the two of you for a long time. It will be such a relief to pass on the Staff."

She stepped down from the steps and held her hand out to Sydney. After a second's hesitation, Sydney took the offered hand. It was warm and solid. If she hadn't known that the Rainmaker had been dead for centuries, she would have thought it flesh and bone.

"I'm so weary, Sydney. I just want to rest. Maybe I'll even be allowed to see my children once more."

"We'll be honoured to take your Staff to Theri," Sydney told her sincerely. "Thank you so much for saving our lives."

"Am I missing something?" Nigel asked timidly.

"I've seen The Rainmaker before," Sydney admitted. "She woke me when the vines tried to kill us."

"I couldn't let my only hope for peace die...and I've come to like the two of you. You have a strong bond that makes you completely loyal to each other. That's a rare thing. It's not always easy to accept someone for what they are and love them unconditionally without trying to change them. I found this once myself...and lost it."

"...uh..." Nigel protested, "...we're not..."

The look she gave him was kind. "Friends, lovers, it doesn't matter. We just want the people we love to love us back no matter what we do or what mistakes we make."

Nigel glanced at Sydney, meeting her eyes briefly before nodding. Karolyne had just cut to the heart of their relationship. Sydney felt as uncomfortable as Nigel, hearing it out in the open like that.

Brusquely, she said, "So, what now? Do we just go up and take the Staff from the dais?"

"There are magical protections around it. That's why I'm here. I have to help you get through them. I cannot disarm them myself because, as real as I seem to you and Nigel, I am not really alive. My spirit is here, but my body is not. I will not even be able to help you in the fight that comes."

Sydney stiffened at this. "Fight?"

"The ones who follow are even now coming down the corridor. They have found you."

"Damn" Sydney swore. "I was hoping we'd seen the last of them when they fell off the cliff."

Now that Karolyne had warned them, Sydney could hear faint footsteps. She curled her lip in disgust, hoping that their trackers were enjoying the roaches. Metal rasped as Sydney drew her sword and handed the light to Nigel. He backed away, towards the Staff. The Rainmaker went with him, touching his arm so he wouldn't stumble into the magical traps.

He jumped at her touch but stopped as she wanted. Sydney struck a defensive pose and waited tensely for their pursuers to descend the stairs.

There were only three of them. The woman was missing, and Sydney wondered if the cliff had killed her.

"Not you again," she said.

"Look," Bouran said, pointing. "Roj, the Staff."

The grey haired man smiled, and it was chilling. "With that, we'll never have to worry about Telurra fighting back."

The youngest man just grunted in answer.

"You'll have to get through me to get it," Sydney told them, her voice cold.

"You don't think we've come this far to let one lone woman deny us our goal, do you?" the one named as Roj asked scornfully.

"And I've come too far to let you take the Staff."

The men spread out and started circling her. Their blades were drawn and gleamed in the light of Nigel's globe. As she tried to watch all three at once, Sydney hoped that Nigel would stay with the Rainmaker.

"I would have thought you learned your lessons the last two times," Sydney taunted, waiting for someone to make a move.

"You're cocky, treasure hunter," Roj sneered back, "but you're not leaving here alive. Lurac will have the Staff."

"We'll see about that."

Suddenly, both Bouran and Roj made a lunge for her at the same time. Sydney dove to the side, surprising the young man whose name she didn't know. She rolled, coming up and sweeping his legs out from under him. He fell against Bouran, and the two of them went down heavily. Sydney twisted as she straightened, catching Roj's second thrust on her blade.

"Too slow, old man," she grunted, pushing him away.

Their swords met a couple more times before Sydney heard the other two untangle themselves and get to their feet.

She turned slightly so she could once more see the three of them. The youngest looked at a point over her shoulder, which distracted her, so that she almost missed Roj's next stroke. She managed to catch it and kick out at Bouran, who was closing in at the same time.

"He's going for the Staff!" the young man cried.

Both Roj and Bouran took their attentions from Sydney for a split second. It was enough. She struck swiftly, knocking the sword from Roj's hand and whirling to kick at Bouran's stomach. Yorn's brother fell backwards, doubled over.

Sydney saw her last opponent running towards Nigel. She dropped her sword and reached for her knife, prepared to throw it. Nigel looked startled to see the man bearing down on him. Sydney expected the man to attack Nigel, but, instead, he pushed her slight assistant to the side. A bright flash filled the room, and the man screamed shrilly. The scream cut off abruptly as he instantly disintigrated. Nigel's face went completely white, and he gripped Karolyne's arm.

Sydney took all of this in at a glance before whirling to face an unarmed Roj. She sheathed her knife, preferring hand to hand. Then, she raised both of her fists, giving him a questioning look.

He lashed at her, quick and strong. She caught the blow on the wrist of her left hand and threw him her right, catching him on the jaw. He shook his head, but before he could recover, she hit him again.

In anger, he roared and struck at her. Sydney was just a little slow and pain went through her as his blow struck her cheek. Giving him a look that usually made Nigel blanche, she tried to hit him again, but he blocked it, and aimed another punch at her. This one was strong enough to knock her over.

Sydney was done playing.

Getting up, she whirled, aiming a kick for his head. He hadn't seen it coming, and it was his turn to fall to the ground.

"Syd!"

Sydney heard Nigel's cry and turned quickly. Even so, she would have been too late to deflect the sword blow. She heard a crunch and saw Bouran's face go from triumph to surprise as he crumpled to the floor. Behind him, Nigel stood with the Rainmaker's Staff in his hand, his face flushed and glowing from his contribution.

"Thanks, Nige."

Roj was groaning and struggling to get to his feet, so Sydney turned and, kneeling, gave him a punch hard enough to make his eyes roll back in his head.

"Not leaving alive, huh?" she grunted, watching with satisfaction as Roj collapsed to the floor.

XXX

"So, how was Nigel able to get the Staff when the young thief couldn't?" Theri asked, her eyes wide.

Four of them sat in the summer cottage's study about a month later. Sydney and Nigel had arrived the night before, demanded food and baths, and then beds. Now well rested, they told Theri of their adventures. She was especially interested in the fact that Lurac had purposefully caused the drought.

"Karolyne helped me," Nigel replied. "She was the only one who knew how to disarm the protection spells. We were working our way through when he just rushed right past, and...well..."

"He was fried," Sydney supplied.

Rayzi shook his head. "I can't believe Yorn's brother is a traitor. Yorn is completely trustworthy."

"Well," Nigel said slowly, "brothers aren't always alike. My own brother, for instance, is a slimy, back-stabbing..."

"Nigel."

"He is, Syd."

"You have a brother?" Theri asked, curiosity in her voice.

"Yes," Nigel said slowly.

Sydney saw him wince slightly and could see he was waiting for questions that would reopen a wound that hadn't even begun to heal.

"He's not as smart or as good looking as Nigel is, he just thinks he is," she broke in before Nigel could say anything else.

Nigel's eyes widened at this, and Sydney smiled at him.

Theri shook her head. "He doesn't sound very pleasant."

This made Nigel smile as he said generously, "He's not so bad, I guess."

This unexpected declaration made Sydney laugh. That was about the nicest thing she'd ever heard Nigel say about Preston.

She reached to the four foot piece of wood she had propped against the table. Taking it in her hands, she stood and held it out to Theri.

"I believe this belongs to you."

The young princess had been eyeing it since Sydney brought it downstairs, and now her face lit up as she accepted it. A glow shimmered around her for a half a second before disappearing, leaving a smile on Theri's face in its wake.

"It's wonderful. I don't know how to thank you."

"Just bring health back to your people...and don't forget the sacrifices Karolyne made for them." Sydney knew that she herself would never forget The Rainmaker.

"I can do that."

"I know. She wouldn't entrust it to anyone but you."

The princess, who still seemed more girl than woman to Sydney, threw her arms around Sydney in a giant hug. "I knew we had chosen right the moment I saw you and Nigel. If you ever cross over again, you are welcome to all I can give."

Releasing Sydney, she then went to Nigel. "And thank you too, Nigel."

Sydney watched in amusement as Theri gave Nigel a kiss on the cheek. He blushed and smiled, unable to meet her eyes.

"It was Sydney mostly," he mumbled.

"Don't be so modest, Nigel," she argued before blushing herself and quickly moving away.

"So," Sydney said, "who do we see about getting home?"

Rayzi winked at her, declaring, "That would be me."

"Great." Then she glanced at Nigel. "Are you ready?"

She knew that he found the history of Telurra fascinating and, from the way he was looking at her, its heir as well. Sydney remembered the wistful way Nigel had spoken about getting to really know the culture there. Though she let no sign of it show on her face, internally she held her breath.

Nigel had been watching Theri shyly, but at Sydney's question he straightened and said quickly, "Yes!"

She bit back a sigh of relief and just said, "Good. What do we do?"

"You just have to be standing close together," Rayzi replied, motioning with his hands.

Nigel stepped towards her until they were just a hair's breath apart.

"Now, this might be a little unpleasant," the mage continued.

Sydney scowled, remembering the last time and steeling herself for the nausea. She felt Nigel's hand gently grip her arm and she patted it reassuringly.

"Are you ready?" Rayzi asked.

Sydney nodded, deciding to keep her eyes open for this trip. She wanted her last view of Telurra to be the beaming face of Theri as she held her Staff and looked forward into the bright future of her people.


End file.
